from clipped to....

[Vera]

well, i think i will give my parrotlets back their flight abilities.

my male parrotlet is a insecure bird and is alsos a overpreener. I have let his feathers grow back and he now has the three outher feathers each wing grown back at the moment, then the next four feathers clipped and the rest is unclipped.
he can fly verry good and is practicing his skills. he seems to have more self confidence and he Seems to be happier.
his new feathers are not overpreened yet, and i hope it will stay this way.
i'm not sure yet if i will keep him partly clipped like he is now, or that i will let all of his feathers grow back.
he can fly around the room and can fly almost vertical and is very fast, i worry that he might hurt himself when he becomes fully flighted and can fly even faster.

the female does not yet have new feathers and is still fully clipped, 8 feathers on each wing. she is a very dominant bird and I'm not sure how she will react if she can fly, but we will give her the chance and see how it goes.
both birds are about 2 years old and have been clipped since a young age.
the female was 7 weeks old when clipped and the male was 12 weeks old.

i love to see him fly around the room. i already showed him the windows by ticking on it with my fingers and let him feel the glass with his beak.

any other advices on how to live with flighted birds?

 

[sunnysmom]

I think it's wonderful that you're giving them a chance to fly. You can put decals on the windows too so they realize that there's something there. Then just take ordinary precautions- watch for open doors and windows. Make sure any ceiling fans are shut off. If they can fly into the bathroom, make sure the toilet lid is kept down.

 

[Calpurnia]

I think you've made a good decision to let them grow back! And I do think you should let them all grow out. We've had two p'let now and both were clipped as babies. As soon as their flights began to grow out and they realized how much fun flying around the house was they were like completely different birds. Our most recently baby Julian was very skittish and shy in the first few months. I'm sure some of his growing attitude can be attributed to simple maturation, but I really do think being able to go where he wants when he wants has help foster his confidence and independence.

It's understandable that you are worried about them hurting themselves but remember, they were both clipped very young and so have never had the chance to practice flying. They are also going to need to work on their flight muscles which have likely atrophied. In the beginning there will definitely be bumps, crash landings, and a general lack of control. But they will learn the layout of the room quickly enough.

At least in our house, the biggest issue when having flighted birds has always been leaving stuff lying around. So many people comment on how clean and organized our house in when in reality, if I didn't hide every hair tie someone (*cough* Kevin *cough*) would be trying to eat them. Our older p'let Simon had a serious obsession with chewing door/picture frames, window sills, cabinets, etc. All we could do is keep an eye on him in most cases, and run off to find him if the house became suspiciously quiet. Honestly, you're probably going to have to spend more time just keeping an eye on your birds if they are flighted. But it's worth the effort seeing them much happier.

Keeping the toilet closed is definitely good advice: for some reason all of our birds love hanging out in the bathroom.

 

[JLcribber]

he can fly around the room and can fly almost vertical and is very fast, i worry that he might hurt himself when he becomes fully flighted and can fly even faster.

The reality is exactly the "opposite" of your fear. They can fly and manoeuvre as well as you can walk (probably better). They learn and know every inch of their environment. Once given enough "time and practice" they will never hit anything.

When you let your kid learn to ride a bike they will fall off and skin their knee. That is all part of it. Flattening the tires (clipping) is not going to help one bit is it?

 

[JLcribber]

If you want to be safe, do not change their flight environment once established. Familiarity and knowing their environment is what keeps them safe.

 

[Peachfaced]

The reality is exactly the "opposite" of your fear. They can fly and manoeuvre as well as you can walk (probably better). They learn and know every inch of their environment. Once given enough "time and practice" they will never hit anything.

When you let your kid learn to ride a bike they will fall off and skin their knee. That is all part of it. Flattening the tires (clipping) is not going to help one bit is it?

As their wings grow out, they just continue to improve. You can help them out with flight exercises if you like. They may not always "hit" their target landing right, but most just shake it off and continue on. Birds are pretty resilient!

Nowadays, Sherbie could turn on a dime in mid flight.

 

[Monica]

I would recommend checking out the videos on this channel. There are some great tips!



flychomperfly - YouTube

 

[Vera]

well he is a very strong bird, has been clipped for 2 years but already flies as if he has done this his whole life.
the female is watching him and wonders how he does that. I can see her thinking and i tell her that soon she will be able to fly too.
I think this will be harder for her because she was clipped at a very young age, but i'm sure she will learn it and love it. he will be a great teacher.

question: how can i teach him to come to me? he is a bit insecure, but he always steps up without hesitating, but only if he can feel the finger with his beak first.
he never just jumps on your finger.

 

[JLcribber]

question: how can i teach him to come to me? he is a bit insecure, but he always steps up without hesitating, but only if he can feel the finger with his beak first.
he never just jumps on your finger.

Bribery/reward/incentive. What's his favourite treat? (Even if it's something forbidden) Sit down somewhere. Put it on your shoulder and ignore him.

One of the secret weapons around here is a potato chip bag. Any kind of bag really. You rustle a bag and here they come.

 

[Monica]

question: how can i teach him to come to me? he is a bit insecure, but he always steps up without hesitating, but only if he can feel the finger with his beak first.
he never just jumps on your finger.

If he will only step up using his beak first, then start there. Keep encouraging that behavior using treats as a reward. Then try just *barely* out of reach. Maybe he can still touch your hand, but he has to reach further. If he'll step up from there, then keep going at that point. If he doesn't, just go back a step.

What you want to do is to encourage longer and longer distances from where he's at to where you are at, but take it in baby steps. If he'll walk over to you, great! If he'll step up, great! If he doesn't understand hopping to you, or flying to you, that's ok. Baby steps. Sometimes, it takes a while for things to "click" before they figure it out. Other times, they may get it immediately.


Just try to work with what he's willing to give you. Setting him up for success. Don't ask for more than he understands.


Such as asking him to step up and being 1" away vs being 6" away. The difference for you may be minimal, but for him, it's huge!

 

[JLcribber]

he always steps up without hesitating, but only if he can feel the finger with his beak first.
he never just jumps on your finger.

The beak is a birds finger. I've never owned a bird that didn't do that. Touch/test it first, then step on it.

 

[Vera]

I don't really now what is favorit treat is. he doesn't seem to take any food from my hands besides millet, maybe this is because he can keep some distance when taking the millet.
he loves bee pollen but they are so tiny... i dont know if he will take this from my hand.

when i start practicing with him, would it be better to do this in a seperate room so that he doesn't get distracted by the female or wants to fly back to the cage (and female) all the time during training?

 

[Monica]

Millet is fine!

 

[BeeBop]

Yes, when training any animal it's best to do so with the least amount of distractions as possible. Millet is fine for a treat if that's what he responds to.

 

[Vera]

ok thank you all. I will start training him (in baby steps) to fly towards me when i call him.

he just did some loops around the livingroom, i love to see him enjoy his wings! the female is watching him with great respect and she tries to follow him. she is still clipped and not able to fly, so she will "fly" for a few meters until she lands on the floor. at least she is now practicing and strengthening her wings in advance.