Questions about Uneven Wing Clip

[papaya13]

I just brought home an adopted TAG with a TERRIBLE wing clip- someone removed all of the primaries on his right wing. The left one is intact, although the primaries have a sort of 'patchy' look along the leading edges- not sure what that's about.

Does this clip pose a safety risk? Is there anything I can do to make it better? I'm planning on letting his wings come in, so we might be waiting for a while- no idea when his last molt was.

Thanks!

 

[papaya13]

UPDATE: He just took a pretty bad fall after I picked him up and landed right on his keel. He seems OK, but it scared me! He's pretty skinny and I'm concerned about potential musculoskeletal injuries should he fall again...

 

[Shezbug]

Yes the clip poses a serious safety risk but so does fixing it by making it an even clip- all clipped birds are at risk. Your options are to either get imping done, clip for evenness, keep caged or never let your bird up high enough for falling to be a danger.
You really want to limit any chance your bird can fall at all while it is flight disabled, you can also pad up the floor around where your bird can get to so if a fall happens it is not likely to do too much damage.
My first preference would be imping if this were my bird.

Is your bird off balance? Did it previously fly?

 

[papaya13]

I’m not sure if he fledged or not. I adopted him off of Craigslist and his previous owners weren’t exactly parrot savvy. He’ll flap after a bath and a good preen to settle everything in place, and sometimes seems like he wants to try flying (leans forward, wings quivering). I’ll ask my vet if they do imping, but I don’t have any feathers…

 

[macawpower58]

If you can't imp, I'd for sure even out the feathers a bit. Flight is already gone, so trimming the long side will at least help with balance.
With that one full wing your bird thinks he has flight, wich is dangerous with the clip he has now.
Clipped birds usually realize pretty quickly they have no lift off left.
You'd still need to be careful about his surroundings until the wings start to molt and regrow.

 

[Aviphile]

Mandy was like that when I got her, she had one perfect wing and the other wing all of the primary flight feathers were broken off at the quills. She would flap and if on the floor she would just spin in a circle and if she was higher up she would try to fly and fall to the ground. It broke my heart to watch her, I ended up clipping the other wing to keep her safe.

 

[papaya13]

Mandy was like that when I got her, she had one perfect wing and the other wing all of the primary flight feathers were broken off at the quills. She would flap and if on the floor she would just spin in a circle and if she was higher up she would try to fly and fall to the ground. It broke my heart to watch her, I ended up clipping the other wing to keep her safe.

I might ask my vet about it when I take him in. I hate to clip him because I want him to have both wings ASAP, and it seems counterintuitive to clip what he already has, but i don't want him to injure himself!

I asked my vet about imping, and she said they don't offer it, but I know a falconer in town and he might be able to help me. Imping is pretty common in falconry and he should be able to at least point me in the right direction, if not do the imping himself. Crossing my fingers he'll get back to me soon!

 

[papaya13]

Merlin still hasn’t grown in his right wing, but the feathers have gotten longer and he’s not falling as heavily as he was.

Still, he took a couple of diggers that left him with a wound between his keel and his vent. He occasionally would pick at it and cause it to start bleeding again. My vet gave me some ointment, which softened the scab, and now the area is just a tiny bald patch on his tummy.

I will say, for anyone with a short-tailed bird, falling injuries are NOT on their keels, as with long tailed species. Their weight distribution causes them to fall more on their heinie.

I was worried he might have been self-mutilating, because of the placement, but it really was an accident.

Here’s to fabulous feather growth in 2024!!!