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Learning to fly

Macawnutz

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I have always expected a lot out of myself and family. I push, sometimes too much to do more. I looked at Koko the other night while she was preening and said to her, " You could put some effort into moving more." :unsure1:
Perch potatoes. I find if you give them the room and push it usually works. Least with the macaws.
 

aooratrix

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Yes, and your bird will really need to build up some muscle to fly successfully. Start out with the "macaw aerobics" and continue from there. Keep us posted.
 

Icey

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I love all the suggestion posted here, but I have a question for my, also non- flyer macaw Frankie.
To toss him anywhere once we get to that (if ever) stage will be hard.
If I have him on my arm and try to gently "toss" him on the bed, he will give me a death grip resistance hold. I never hold him by his feet....which would probably be easier?
I think i will wait until @Greylady1966 gets to this stage and see how she managed lol
 

Toy

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I love all the suggestion posted here, but I have a question for my, also non- flyer macaw Frankie.
To toss him anywhere once we get to that (if ever) stage will be hard.
If I have him on my arm and try to gently "toss" him on the bed, he will give me a death grip resistance hold. I never hold him by his feet....which would probably be easier?
I think i will wait until @Greylady1966 gets to this stage and see how she managed lol
If possible set your bird down & then pick him up by grasping him on both sides, like picking up a box, then toss him.
 

Shezbug

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I love all the suggestion posted here, but I have a question for my, also non- flyer macaw Frankie.
To toss him anywhere once we get to that (if ever) stage will be hard.
If I have him on my arm and try to gently "toss" him on the bed, he will give me a death grip resistance hold. I never hold him by his feet....which would probably be easier?
I think i will wait until @Greylady1966 gets to this stage and see how she managed lol
Burt flies beautifully from where ever he is but for some reason he totally hates me throwing him off my arm like we see on so many free flying videos and he does the death grip like you say Frankie does, if I grab him like Toy suggests in the post above he thinks it is awesome fun when I gently throw him, usually it is just a low toss onto the couch or bed but we also do the high toss up into the air. Make everything a game and of course give him tonnes of praise for any tiny bit of progress.
 

Icey

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Burt flies beautifully from where ever he is but for some reason he totally hates me throwing him off my arm like we see on so many free flying videos and he does the death grip like you say Frankie does, if I grab him like Toy suggests in the post above he thinks it is awesome fun when I gently throw him, usually it is just a low toss onto the couch or bed but we also do the high toss up into the air. Make everything a game and of course give him tonnes of praise for any tiny bit of progress.
@Shezbug do you have or can you get a video of Burt doing it for us pretty please?
Only if he's not still in his aggro mood, of course ;)
 

Shezbug

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@Shezbug do you have or can you get a video of Burt doing it for us pretty please?
I’ll try to remember when we get back to that kind of interaction if I can find a way to set my phone up to catch it. He’s still very unpredictable at the moment so we’re having minimal physical contact and I don’t do anything that encourages excitement or he gets impulsive and starts being silly.
 

Tazlima

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Burt flies beautifully from where ever he is but for some reason he totally hates me throwing him off my arm like we see on so many free flying videos and he does the death grip like you say Frankie does, if I grab him like Toy suggests in the post above he thinks it is awesome fun when I gently throw him, usually it is just a low toss onto the couch or bed but we also do the high toss up into the air. Make everything a game and of course give him tonnes of praise for any tiny bit of progress.
Boo also does the death grip thing. Watching her fly, even if it's a short flight she's handled many times before, she generally takes a moment or two to assess the gap and plan her maneuver. If the gap is bigger, I've seen her sit there for four or five minutes screwing up her courage to take the leap, squatting into flight position and turning her head different angles to assess the distance (and sometimes, even with all that prep, she still won't hit her mark). Sometimes she'll even do a couple test-flaps of her wings before taking off like "yep, okay, those are working". There have been a couple times where she just did it, BOOM! without that careful preparation. It's delightful and surprising when it happens.

Now my quaker, on the other hand, I could yeet him into the void and he wouldn't care, but that carefree attitude is born of confidence. He's an excellent flier and has never learned a fear of falling.
 
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Toy

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This is a pic of JaJaBinks flying (passed August 2020). She never flew in the house unless I tossed her. She would walk & climb instead. We wanted to get pics of her flying, so I flew her from her cage to the parrot tower, 18-20 feet. If you look close you can see her tail fanned & her feet out (landing gear) in position to land.

She was an amazing companion that loved to be involved in just about everything I did. I really miss her. I'm hoping JaKhu will eventually be the same, once she gets passed the macaw terrible twos. PS: That's not her cage in the pic. It's Jasmine's (U2).

jjbfly006.jpg
 

Greylady1966

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She's been getting on top of Howard's house when he's not it in and flapping. I noticed her right wing is weaker than the left. I'm going to get it checked in February.
 

Macawnutz

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Your video is private.
 

Greylady1966

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I'll fix it later.
 

Greylady1966

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Greylady1966

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Does this work now?
 

Greylady1966

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Thank you @Shezbug did you notice how she doesn't flex her one wing as far as the other?
 

Shezbug

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Yes and then she fidgets with that wing. Maybe a little painful or feels odd?
 

Shezbug

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Even if she never flies, that wing flapping is great exercise for her.
 
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