Clipped African Grey parrot?

[macaronish]

Hey! So one of my friends recently inherited a 15yo African grey parrot. She was fully flighted all her life and lived in a large indoor aviary, but her owner (friends aunt) passed away from cancer. My friend took the parrot however she had her wings fully clipped as she has lots of dolls and collectibles displayed on shelves around her house. She's also being kept in a 4ft by 3ft cage. Am I wrong to be a bit concerned by this?

 

[flyzipper]

Your concern is justified.

The dolls are inanimate objects and your friend is placing their well-being ahead of the needs of a living being.

 

[Toy]

CAG's don't tend to fly much inside, unless startled, so clipping is not a good thing. They tend to stay on their cage or climb down or like to walk around on the floor. Since the new owner seems to put her doll & whatever collections above the bird it sounds like the bird won't get out of it's cage much. A larger cage would be better. I have a U2, CAG (Congo African Grey) & a B&G Macaw. They have never gone after collectibles on shelves.

 

[Sparkles99]

I think that you'll need to approach this gently, if you do. Your friend sounds like they have an excessive amount of collectibles - 'hoards' are something the literature is increasingly tying to unresolved trauma. If you suggest liquidating these things, it likely won't go well. I'd focus on trying to help them empty one room for the bird of collectibles.

Edited to add that it's also nice your friend took in this bird. Unlike most people on this board, it wasn't a choice & rescues are bursting with bigger birds.

 

[Xoetix]

I guess the first question would be, does she want the bird?

I don’t mean that badly at all. Sometimes inheriting something like a bird is unexpected and not reeeeeally wanted, but agreed upon due to guilt/feelings of obligation. If she doesn’t want her, would she be willing to rehome or give to a rescue, or would the feeling of obligation be too strong to do so?

 

[macaronish]

I guess the first question would be, does she want the bird?

I don’t mean that badly at all. Sometimes inheriting something like a bird is unexpected and not reeeeeally wanted, but agreed upon due to guilt/feelings of obligation. If she doesn’t want her, would she be willing to rehome or give to a rescue, or would the feeling of obligation be too strong to do so?

I just asked her for an update and she has the bird for sale, won't take less than £2000 for her which is kind of normal for greys in the UK. She says she's thinking of it as her inheritance

 

[MnGuy]

I just asked her for an update and she has the bird for sale, won't take less than £2000 for her which is kind of normal for greys in the UK. She says she's thinking of it as her inheritance

That's an unfortunate mindset, but I hope the bird finds a good home. Greys are so heavy that wing clips really affect their flying confidence. Mine came clipped when I adopted her, and it took her many, many years to feel comfortable flying.

Greys are going for $5,000-$5,5000 in the USA. It's crazy.

 

[Xoetix]

I just asked her for an update and she has the bird for sale, won't take less than £2000 for her which is kind of normal for greys in the UK. She says she's thinking of it as her inheritance

Wow, that’s unfortunate the poor bird. I hate she’s getting shuffled around like that.

Maybe get the OK from your friend to post here in the rehoming thread here?