wings (cut them or not)

[mindee77]

I don't cut my birds wings is this the smart thing to do?? I would rather have them be able to fly in case of emergency. When they are out I am always in the same room.. Does it matter the breed and size of bird if the cut them?? Our birds range in size from very small to very big?? I just want to do whats best for my babies!!!

 

[Begone]

Are they cut in the wild? That is the only question to ask yourself.
They need their wings to fly and stay healthy and to be happy.

 

[mindee77]

We have never cut the wings. I think they should be able to fly.

 

[Gypsy]

Our birds are living in homes not in open outdoor space. Birds that have been hand raised are happy and healthy if you feed them a good diet and have mental stimulation. As you can see this a topic that divides the members here.

I am for cutting wings for the safety of my birds. I do not want to take the chance of my bird escaping the house due to somebody leaving a door or window open by accident. If you cut the wings correctly, the bird will glide to the floor and not fall like a rock. Too many things can happen to spook a bird into flight and possibly injure itself while doing so. Even if wings are cut, do not have false confidence your bird cannot fly away from you. Too many posts about lost or injured birds have convinced me to trim wings, but I still watch them carefully because anything can happen, trimmed wings or not.

I think the answer can be found by examining your lifestyle and the birds environment. Do not let peer pressure make this decision for you. Use common sense.

 

[BeakFace]

I DON'T CLIP!

 

[Lady Jane]

Cutting a birds wings will not keep them from flying out of an open door. You are mutilating a bird with a wing clip. Companion birds are so much happier and healthy when the wings are left alone and they can fly as nature intended. Wings Up!! Of course if you cut them so severly they will not even be able to fly at all and be very unhappy.

 

[webchirp]

There have been times when I've almost lost a bird to a window crash or crazy flight that I wished they would have been clipped. Every now and then I will get light clips when someone is aggressive to everyone else (Kari). As others have said...if you can't secure escape zones, then clipping is best in my thought. I do have a few that love their flying though and would not clip. Everyone is different and in the end finding a balance that allows the bird to remain safe and in a home that they love and are loved is what matters to me.

 

[BeakFace]

Cutting a birds wings will not keep them from flying out of an open door. You are mutilating a bird with a wing clip. Companion birds are so much happier and healthy when the wings are left alone and they can fly as nature intended. Wings Up!! Of course if you cut them so severly they will not even be able to fly at all and be very unhappy.

YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!!!!

 

[Birdiemarie]

I personally feel the decision to clip wings should only be done as a last resort with much serious thought as to whether it really is a last resort because birds were made to have wings to fly. All pro/con variables have to be taken into serious consideration such as family dynamics, other pets, window/door setups, etc before any decision is made.

 

[pajarita]

I've clipped one single bird in the more than 23 years I've been taking in parrots. It was an 11 year old male Senegal which had lived the last 10 years of his life in a small square cage. He was the most aggressive bird I've ever had. I clipped him because he would attack me every single day, several times a day, so I had wounds, bruises and scars all over (legs, feet, arms, back, face, ears, neck, etc) and, by the third breeding season, I literally dreaded going into the birdroom... so I figured I would give it a try. BIG MISTAKE! I regretted it immediately and have never forgotten the experience (with shame, I must add). He went from a self-assured, in your face, super talkative bird (he is the best talker I've ever had and knows exactly what he is saying so I actually have conversations with him) to.... nothing! He hid, without saying a single word or making a peep for three whole days. I felt like the biggest heel and bully! And, needless to say, it did nothing for his aggression. Granted, he couldn't fly and attack me but it did not endear me to him in any way.

The way I see it, if you want a bird (or any other animal) you need to make sure you are able to keep it healthy and reasonably content and that means the bird should be able to fly.

 

[Princessbella]

I clip Bella's wings because she has a tendency to fly into mirrors and get into trouble. When I first got her, she had a severe wing clip so she couldn't fly. I let her wings grow out and the first thing she did was crash into a mirror. I think clipping is a personal decision and not right for everyone.

 

[Chantilly Lace]

A good thing to do is either get magic mesh or cut up long strips of clear shower curtain, and hang them, over lapping, like you would see in a freezer or aviary. Do that for all doors that lead outside, to act as an added barrier. We find magic mesh on sale at home depot sometimes for half off. We have a system where we don't bring birds out unless we have confirmation that the other one of us is not going to come home to open the door. We are very paranoid, but it is better to be safe than sorry. We do playtimes upstairs, in a closed room that doesn't lead outside, so we only have to worry about them when we are transporting them to and from the cage. That is when we always get text or call confirmation that we won't open the door. We also hang only a foot or tail when we are carrying them, as another back up. Very over protective mother here!

 

[Kiwibird08]

It depends on the bird as an individual and the unique situation the bird lives in. There is NO right or wrong answer or "better" way. Domestic birds do not live in nature, eat natural diets or do natural activities. Flight is just one other thing that may be different for them in a domestic home. My parents have 3 fully flighted parrots they've owned for over 40 years. Never an escape, the only time they clipped was the hyper aggressive cockatoo when I was a little kid (to keep him from dive bombing me). My bird is clipped, he came to me that way. He has been his whole life and never learned to fly. I clip him myself and do a light clip. He does not have 'butchered' wings. He is happy, confident and well adjusted. He has no concept of flight, but he does have ways he can communicate to his humans he would like a ride and has become an *excellent* climber.

We also exercise him daily with wing-flapping exercises indoors and outdoors (weather permitting) to keep his muscle strength up, though he digs his talons into your hand and hangs on for dear life! And yes, I am holding those toes TIGHTLY when he's outside!

"Because clipped birds just sit on their perch and mope all day, never experiencing the joy of feeling the wind in their wings"

 

[QBird]

I try not to clip and let any clips grow out, that is my preference and I think the birds seem to be happier and more confident when they can fly.

 

[Diesel13]

I believe to clip or not to clip really depends on the situation. All of the parrots I work with at the high school (except for the cockatiels in the aviary) have clipped wings. With the way the program is run and the amount of people involved it is just not feasible to have flighted parrots. We did have three flighted lovebirds for a little over a year but eventually had to clip their wings because they were not getting enough out of cage time due to their flighted ability. With this in mind, whenever we are at schools or events or have people visit the program we are strong promoters of not clipping. We explain that our situation is a special exception and that if we had the power we would allow all of the parrots to be flighted.

From my own personal experience and from what I've read, I believe parrots should be flighted. They are birds and their entire existence and how they have evolved revolves around flying. I have seen the negative affects of a bird that knew flight but that was then clipped and I have seen the positive affects of a clipped bird learning how to fly for the first time. With my nanday conure, Diesel, she was allowed to fully fledge and live the first 6 months of her life flighted. But then due to the pressure of my family I made the biggest mistake ever and clipped her wings. She became entirely reliable on us, which led to more screaming to have us pick her up so she could follow us out of the room and even the beginning of a feather destructive behavior. It broke my heart to see her shredding her beautiful feathers. I tried everything possible and had her checked out for all sorts of diseases but nothing worked and she was cleared as perfectly healthy. Finally, I decided to let her grow her flight feathers back and show my family some ways we could accommodate living with a flighted bird. Sure enough over the summer when she started to be able to fly more the over preening started to go away. Now she is fully flighted and only has a few leftover shredded feathers left because she has molted out all of her destroyed feathers and hasn't over preened the new ones. In the end flying allowed her to have more choice and control over her life and made her a more confident, less stressed bird.

 

[Milo]

It depends on the bird as an individual and the unique situation the bird lives in. There is NO right or wrong answer or "better" way. Domestic birds do not live in nature, eat natural diets or do natural activities. Flight is just one other thing that may be different for them in a domestic home. My parents have 3 fully flighted parrots they've owned for over 40 years. Never an escape, the only time they clipped was the hyper aggressive cockatoo when I was a little kid (to keep him from dive bombing me). My bird is clipped, he came to me that way. He has been his whole life and never learned to fly. I clip him myself and do a light clip. He does not have 'butchered' wings. He is happy, confident and well adjusted. He has no concept of flight, but he does have ways he can communicate to his humans he would like a ride and has become an *excellent* climber.

We also exercise him daily with wing-flapping exercises indoors and outdoors (weather permitting) to keep his muscle strength up, though he digs his talons into your hand and hangs on for dear life! And yes, I am holding those toes TIGHTLY "

Youre fooling yourself if you think simply holding his toes is keeping him safe outside.

 

[Kiwibird08]

Youre fooling yourself if you think simply holding his toes is keeping him safe outside.

Of course theres a risk! I'm not stupid. You have to make decisions on the risks you are and are not wiling to take in life. It's called a risk benefit ratio. I feel reasonably safe doing that with him. We could also be hit by a drunk driver every time he comes out in the car with me, I'm not taking that away from him either. We could be run over every time he comes on a walk with me (zipped into a bird backpack), not taking that away either. A highly skilled flighted bird locked indoors their entire life could get spooked and smash head first into a wall or that one time you forgot to lock the cage door and they follow you out the front door. Seen the first thing happen and heard of multiple cases of the latter.

 

[MyAussieFriends]

Personally, I don't clip. I live alone, and there are no predators in my house. I have my living room decked out with toys and swings, and whenever I'm home they are out flying around.

I really believe that flight is important to our fids health. I mean, if you look at a wild bird, they are almost always on the move, flying around. In our homes, they aren't. This often leads to our birds being overweight and unhealthy. The more exercise they get, the healthy they will be. It's the same as people really. You take a morbidly obese person, and you stick them in an office chair all day, and their health is going to be poor, and their lifespan will be shortened. I want my birds to feel good, look good, and be around for as long as they can.

I think a lot of people prefer to clip their untame birds wings. Those little guys can seriously buzz around fast! And if they don't want to be caught, they won't be. I have kept untame budgies for a number of years. But, it is totally possible to train the most wild of budgies to go back into their cage when play time is over.

One of the greatest joys in owning birds for me is their flight. Having a bunch of little budgies zooming around is just so much fun to watch.

Plus, a fully flighted bird is so much prettier than a clipped one

It depends on the bird as an individual and the unique situation the bird lives in. There is NO right or wrong answer or "better" way. Domestic birds do not live in nature, eat natural diets or do natural activities. Flight is just one other thing that may be different for them in a domestic home. My parents have 3 fully flighted parrots they've owned for over 40 years. Never an escape, the only time they clipped was the hyper aggressive cockatoo when I was a little kid (to keep him from dive bombing me). My bird is clipped, he came to me that way. He has been his whole life and never learned to fly. I clip him myself and do a light clip. He does not have 'butchered' wings. He is happy, confident and well adjusted. He has no concept of flight, but he does have ways he can communicate to his humans he would like a ride and has become an *excellent* climber.

We also exercise him daily with wing-flapping exercises indoors and outdoors (weather permitting) to keep his muscle strength up, though he digs his talons into your hand and hangs on for dear life! And yes, I am holding those toes TIGHTLY when he's outside!

"Because clipped birds just sit on their perch and mope all day, never experiencing the joy of feeling the wind in their wings"

I would seriously reconsider taking him outside like that, even though you are holding tight to his feet.

Being a member of forums for a number of years, I have read SOOO many stories of people losing their clipped and flighted birds outside because they weren't in a harness. Birds that have never shown interest in flying or prefer to run and climb away will still know how to fly. It is natural. It takes any kind of perceived danger to send them into a flight frenzy.

Also, one good nip you may accidentally let him go.

An aviator harness is a great way to get them to go outside, and experience some fresh air, while still staying safe.

 

[Kiwibird08]

Heres my question- why is one risk factor or restriction of a natural tendency more acceptable to take than another? I am no newcomer to the avian community and have been around parrots and "parrot people" my entire life. I have heard all the worst case scenarios you all describe and fully understand the risks I take with my bird, but others seem not to realize the risks they take with their indoor flighted birds and are quick to point out clipping as 'unacceptable' when constraining a bird to a wholly unnatural indoor environment and either never taking them outside (which is where nature intended birds to be) or tethering them to something while outside (which is completely unnatural) is 'totally fine'. I'm not saying those are inherently wrong, but when the argument is "allowing a bird to be as nature intended", well those are certainly not factors nature intended for birds to experience any more than clipping or the potential to be loose in a non-native environment. I personally know of a macaw who lost an eye while flying supervised indoors (crashed into something) as well as an amazon who is a normally skilled indoor flyer who has been spooked and crashed hard into walls in her panic on numerous occasions. I also know personally of a conure who was eaten by a hawk while outdoors as well as an IRN who has gotten loose outside and was safely retrieved. If you want to get into forum stories, I've seen (as I'm sure you all have too) just as many indoor accidents as outdoor accidents, flighted bird accidents and clipped bird accidents. Why is the focus always on clipped birds and birds who go outdoors when theres also risks for indoor birds who fly???

 

[MyAussieFriends]

Heres my question- why is one risk factor or restriction of a natural tendency more acceptable to take than another? I am no newcomer to the avian community and have been around parrots and "parrot people" my entire life. I have heard all the worst case scenarios you all describe and fully understand the risks I take with my bird, but others seem not to realize the risks they take with their indoor flighted birds and are quick to point out clipping as 'unacceptable' when constraining a bird to a wholly unnatural indoor environment and either never taking them outside (which is where nature intended birds to be) or tethering them to something while outside (which is completely unnatural) is 'totally fine'. I'm not saying those are inherently wrong, but when the argument is "allowing a bird to be as nature intended", well those are certainly not factors nature intended for birds to experience any more than clipping or the potential to be loose in a non-native environment. I personally know of a macaw who lost an eye while flying supervised indoors (crashed into something) as well as an amazon who is a normally skilled indoor flyer who has been spooked and crashed hard into walls in her panic on numerous occasions. I also know personally of a conure who was eaten by a hawk while outdoors as well as an IRN who has gotten loose outside and was safely retrieved. If you want to get into forum stories, I've seen (as I'm sure you all have too) just as many indoor accidents as outdoor accidents, flighted bird accidents and clipped bird accidents. Why is the focus always on clipped birds and birds who go outdoors when theres also risks for indoor birds who fly???

The main reason why I support unclipped wings is the health of my birds. They have super high metabolisms, and eat a lot. But when they don't get the energy out, that food turns to fat. Like in people, when you are overweight, your life expectancy is shorter. I want my birds to have healthy bodies - because I'd like them to live long lives with me.

Now, when it comes to the harness, I completely agree that it is unnatural. However, the aviator harness (the only one I really like) isn't super constricting, and you can get a flight line to allow them to fly around safely outside.

Birds are extremely delicate. Lots of things can hurt them. I try to use methods which will allow the least amount of risk.

Honestly, us having pet birds in itself is not natural. No matter how well we take care of our birds, it will never be like nature.