Species Flight Styles

[Holiday]

Well, I think I know now why so many African greys are featured in the escaped bird ads! These little suckers fly like they've been launched from a missile launcher! I mean, like a horizontally oriented rocket.

Macaws can be fast, but usually they fly like light aircraft, graceful, ascending, tail feathers trailing, and only picking up speed when they're aloft. Keene (CAG) flies like a cannonball, in a straight bee line at top speed. No wonder they can get out a door so quickly. I'm going to have to watch this little grey projectile. Good thing I have a safety door, but, later on, I'll have to be extra careful when I go out on the deck.

The only parrots I've seen fly in person are macaws, this grey, and parrotlets. I wonder if any of the others have unique styles?

 

[QP4CAG]

love your commentary!!!! Yes, they do fly like a missle! We keep both our birds clipped so Jax can't quite do that here, but don't let that fool you! He still tries like the dickens and sometimes he can get some pretty good air! lil turd!

How's your macs handling the new guy in town btw?

 

[Greycloud]

Yup! They are little jet planes! Kind of like a hummingbird that can turn on a dime!

 

[Holiday]

love your commentary!!!! Yes, they do fly like a missle! We keep both our birds clipped so Jax can't quite do that here, but don't let that fool you! He still tries like the dickens and sometimes he can get some pretty good air! lil turd!

How's your macs handling the new guy in town btw?

Thanks! It's fun to learn about a new kind of bird, although I am perfectly fine that this is the last *direct* learning experience I will have. That's what AA is for I have to say, also, that I'm super happy that she's such an awesome flier (I am one who does believe in the flight to mental development link). NOT that I am criticizing the choices of others. Just saying--for me. I'm happy about it.

Well, they don't have contact yet, but Zoe knows she's in there, and she is jealous! She's been super pinchy and clingy (bad combo--ouch), because she can hear me talking sweet talk, etc. She's off kilter. Everyone else is fine. Of course, the Hahnsies have no clue--they're in their own little world.

 

[QP4CAG]

Awwww Zoe The clipping is to each his own. They can fly their cute little butts my way

 

[Featherpaws]

i find tiels fly fast and they flutter a lot, make hairpin turns and are quite agile


lovebirds are tiny rockets that sound like helicopters.

 

[Ming-Ming]

Kyoko is a very graceful flyer. She launches and glides, flaps. Very pretty and pretty quiet.

Douglas flies like a bumblebee. His wings flap like no tomorrow and it takes him a lot of effort to get to point a to point b (at least thats what it sounds like!)

 

[Leza]

Odin is very graceful, pionus are very good flyers in general. Baby and peanut my pois fly lightning fast just from a to b. They don't turn very well.

 

[Sparky04]

Afie (African Grey) flies slowly through the air. She takes a few powerful wing strokes and lands where she wants to go. Afie has a ligh clip.

Junior (budgie) zooms through the air. She can make quick turns and stop suddenly in mid-air, then dart the other way. She's very agile and it's impressive to watch her fly. She's fully flighted.

Sparky (tiel) is more inexperienced then Junior, but she still is much faster thn Afie. Her wings are uneven because of a genetic issue she has with her left wing, so she somtimes has control issues. But she can make impressive turns in the air. My friend was over one day and Sparky started flying around. My friend thought it was so amazing to see her fly through the air.

And Yoshi...Well he falls to the ground. The breeder said she allowed him to fledge before she clipped him (she clips all her birds), but he just can't fly.

EDIT: Oh and I wanted to add, Westley would fly through the air like a bullet. Whoosh and he was there. And he was even clipped.

 

[Bunnygirl]

I've learned that my caique flies much like a lovebird. Their wings make the same sound when they fly, only louder on a caique.

 

[penny'smom]

Penelope (caique) flies like a little bullet - she turns corners well, but doesn't always land softly. Zoe (OWA) is like a helicopter that's making a huge effort.

 

[Addi Kohler]

The budgie we had back in the day would fly seemingly impossibly fast in our small apartment. That little muldoon would fly this crazy circular pattern complete with parabolic arcs up, over and around the furnishings. He was like a little formula 1 racer.

Once he got the "need for speed" urge out of his system, he'd kick it down a notch and fly "casual". Funny as all get...

 

[waterfaller1]

Cochise is much like your description of Keene, like a rocket. Particularly if you open the big door to the cage, and something is about to happen he does not like.{like toenails clipped} He launches out like you pushed the button on a silo! Sometimes right at your face! Duck!

 

[Feather]

Zyda is very graceful and fast. She can turn corners like nothing, and somehow always ends up on me.
Anica and Star flutter, glide, and hover a lot. As previously mentioned, they sound like little helicopters.
Cockatiels are so fast. It makes me wonder how they don't crash.
Rowan is still getting the hang of it and has had me coming to her rescue a few times. Very noisy and slow.
Tangelo (sun conure) is the slowest flier I have ever met. You can keep up with her with a casual walk with no problem. I'm convinced she wasn't allowed to learn when she was young.
And Swan zips around like a dragon fly.

 

[Bridgette]

Kiwi likes to do tricks. He will swoop down low to the ground and then spring up to the ceiling. He also likes to fly full force into my head and pull my hair and he flies by

 

[merlinsmom13]

Merlin flys like a jet. He can even turn sideways & fly thru a cracked door. I'm kind of glad winter is coming, he has been getting gradually braver since we are in & out on the deck all day.

 

[drop]

Ohh those Greys, Cody flies like a little jet plane, fast and agile too. He does laps around the kitchen and turns on a dime, even for a complete 180. It's pretty cool to see. I wouldn't put it passed him to slip through a door even if it was only open a bit. None of our doors lead directly to outside, so that was a big plus when considering this house. I have only seen one Macaw fly, a GW, and it was almost like the bird was flying in slow motion to me, the wing beats seemed more "shallow" compared to my Grey (if that is more due to flight style or that she had a larger flight area, I don't know). Either way, it was very beautiful.

 

[suileeka]

Unclipped linnies are like bullets in the air! And then they'll land by grabbing hold of something by one foot and dangling upside down!

There is a common misconception that they are clumsy fliers, but they are so heavy-bodied that even a little clip can give them trouble.

 

[drop]

I have heard that many times about Greys too, them being clumsy flyers. I haven't seen this with Cody. I think being fledged and remaining flighted makes a huge difference, not only in developing skill, endurance and confidence, but when I watch Cody fly and maneuver it just looks like he is "thinking fast". Cash (more then likely never fledged, and was kept clipped in prior home) flies from point A to point B. He can be fast, but he really lacks the "flair" and "style" that Cody has. You look at Cody fly, and you can just "feel" it, I don't know how to even describe it...

 

[Merlie]

Mojo and Gumpie are my best, most graceful fliers now .. Gumpie being the speed demon. Ivy will probably never be as good of a flyer, I think he was kept clipped most of his young life.

The Cakes fly like circus clowns being shot out of cannon, you can hear them coming a mile away.

The Pois aren't too graceful, but getting there, not the fastest, but that's okay with me.

Jazz does a pretty good job, but gets a little nuts when she flies, her landings aren't always the best .. lol.

Kismet was one of my best fliers .. she could zoom around corners like a sports car on rails, nail any landing, navigate the entire house .. all three floors with grace and speed, Squirtie .. not so much.