how can i let my cockatiel be flighted?

[lemonjuice]

hey guys! so i have a year and a half old cockatiel named Lemon. I've tried letting his wings grow out so i can train him to fly safely, but as soon as his wings grow out he will have a freak out and do something dangerous. once he tried to fly into a second story window from my loft, and fell all the way to the first story, so i clipped him. i really want him free flighted and not clipped, but i cant seem to figure out how to do it safely. any advice would be really appreciated.

 

[FeatheredM]

If I read it right, you had the window open and your bird flew out by accident? Make sure there is no way for your bird to get out clipped or not clipped, it can be very dangerous. Have you tried recall training?

 

[Destiny]

First step would be to bird-proof the areas you intend to let him free-fly. Cover windows or mirrors, remove hazards, provide lots of safe landing zones. Try to look at the room from the perspective of a bird in flight. Where can he reach? What could hurt him? Don't let your bird fly in a room that isn't safe for flight.

Second step is to stop clipping his wings. He can't learn without practice. And not being allowed to fly means he is also not being allowed to develop the wing muscles necessary for controlled flight and he is not learning the practical skills that are important to using his wings to get around in a crowded indoor space. Clipped birds tend to be clumsy, poor flyers that crash a lot because they can't trust their own wings to support them reliably.

Keep in mind - just like a baby learning how to walk, you can expect that a bird learning to fly will sometimes fall. Your job isn't to stop him from ever crashing. It is to keep him safe while he learns how to fly, even if he sometimes fails to stick the landing. In time, he will figure it out. But he will need time, practice, and your support to get there.

 

[The_Mayor]

Totally agree with what Destiny said. And, if for whatever reason you can't make a room safe for him, it is possible to block off part of a space and make that the designated flying area. Not forever, just while he's learning the ropes of how to control his flight.

The other thing is that there are going to be some bumps and maybe even some scary crashes. It's our responsibility to make the space as safe as possible, but they still manage to get into trouble sometimes.

Children run and fall and sometimes really hurt themselves in the process, but I don't think any of us would say "well, just tie his legs together until he's grown up enough to be able to walk safely." And yet that's what we do when we take away a bird's ability to fly.

 

[lemonjuice]

If I read it right, you had the window open and your bird flew out by accident? Make sure there is no way for your bird to get out clipped or not clipped, it can be very dangerous. Have you tried recall training?

no, he flew towards a closed window, sorry. i dont bring my bird around open windows.

 

[lemonjuice]

First step would be to bird-proof the areas you intend to let him free-fly. Cover windows or mirrors, remove hazards, provide lots of safe landing zones. Try to look at the room from the perspective of a bird in flight. Where can he reach? What could hurt him? Don't let your bird fly in a room that isn't safe for flight.

Second step is to stop clipping his wings. He can't learn without practice. And not being allowed to fly means he is also not being allowed to develop the wing muscles necessary for controlled flight and he is not learning the practical skills that are important to using his wings to get around in a crowded indoor space. Clipped birds tend to be clumsy, poor flyers that crash a lot because they can't trust their own wings to support them reliably.

Keep in mind - just like a baby learning how to walk, you can expect that a bird learning to fly will sometimes fall. Your job isn't to stop him from ever crashing. It is to keep him safe while he learns how to fly, even if he sometimes fails to stick the landing. In time, he will figure it out. But he will need time, practice, and your support to get there.

thank you so so much! im gonna try letting him fly in my bedroom. he might just not be able to have access to the rest of the house until he's flying better. my mom thinks im crazy for flighting him but i think it's important. should i train him at all? like recall training, potty training? or just let him do his thing?

 

[Mizzely]

When my kids started to learn to walk, they fell a LOT. They hit their heads a LOT. So many bumps and bruises.

The answer was not to tie them down to a chair to prevent accidents from walking.

It was to make the environment safer to walk in

Think about every movie where a character suddenly is walking around on 4 feet instead of 2, or has wings when they didn't a minute ago. They FREAK OUT because they have NO IDEA how to use these appendages! Same for your bird They need a chance to get it right!

Let him try in a smaller room first where he can't get as much speed. Make sure windows are covered with a sheer curtain, blinds, or haev some sort of stickers etc on them so they don't look clear and accessible. Same with mirrors. You could try to hang sheer curtains from the ceiling and "box" him in an area with those to help break his speed and slowly move them out if you wanted to!

 

[Lady Jane]

Make your home safe for bird flight first. Then your bird can do what comes naturally to them, Fly. Cutting flight feathers will only serve to frustrate and not give your bird the confidence needed for flight.