Landing issues and wing clips

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Landing issues and wing clips

Postby allie » Thu Oct 05, 2006 2:49 am

Hi,

My girl had two "black eyes" in a row from hitting one, a window screen, and the next day, a picture frame. She has a huge "strawberry" above her eye and i was soo worried. Then she flew again immediately afterward, after a wing flap (so I assume she's still liking flying), while on my hand. This time she landed on the ground very well! Phew. I even put in a huge ficus tree in the room hoping she'd grasp at that to land. She flew around it today. She never uses the nice soft furniture or rugs.

She then crossed the entire room to get to my hand! :wink: I followed the advice set by Ms. Hollander's lecture and just stayed put after she landed rather than rushing to her. She wagged her tail after I picked her up, and I spoke sweetly to her and blew on her to cool her after her exertion.

I sooo wish I could enclose a large area of the yard with netting as a flight pen so she could learn to fly AND LAND. I think it would take a huge enclosure full of grass and maybe a tree or two, and this isn't possible. So that said, what do you think the outlook for her is? I've had her for 2 months now and she mostly hits walls or blinds to land. Occasionally she has landed on a chest top or the floor and made me proud.

Can you link me to any writings about helping birds that never fledged on landing? Or do you think she won't improve and i should clip her? I really cringe at the thought of clipping her. She's not having problems from dangerous things in the home---just walls and screens, blinds! Many bumps and she survives ok. My avian vet said, "they're pretty tough and they have to be to learn to fly; she just needs time." But I don't know that he keeps Greys, you know.

Allie
The bird that lives with me is smarter than me!
allie
 
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Southern USA

Postby Maggie- » Thu Oct 05, 2006 5:10 am

I'll look for possible articles. Some breeders have said when they helped babies fledge, they dropped them on a big bed mattress. Then the chicks had soft landings.

Are there specific areas that she seems to crash into more? If so, see if you can soften them, such as putting a bathroom rug or something soft against the wall until she is better. You could get a soft quilt and nail it to the wall for a softer hit. You could put towels on top of the blinds for a softer landing. Once she is better, you can take them down.

The vet is right, it takes time to learn to fly. Do you know of any friends with parrots that fly? They do learn from each other.

I'll keep thinking.
Maggie-
Maggie-
 

Postby allie » Sat Oct 07, 2006 2:15 am

Thanks Maggie,

An update: Today, I got her to step up from her cage top only for her to decide it was flight time. I had to brace myself. She flew straight for the bathroom where she hit the window screen before (you'd think she'd develop a fear of flying in there, but NO) but at least this time her owner was attentive enough to have put the curtain down. She landed perfectly hanging from the rough curtains! This is her specialty, landing like a clinging bird, like a woodpecker or a nuthatch. I guess they do have woodpecker toes so maybe they land this way in the wild often.

Anyway she hung like a monkey-bird until I asked her to come down on my finger. Good girl! Phew. It was so good to see her have a positive flight.

Yeah, hanging some blankets would be a good idea. My balcony is too narrow at 3.5' to make a flight enclosure. I've got an entire wall of windows to cover now. Yes, any info on how to help teach her to land would be great. There was a BirdTalk article about this issue, but I can't find the author. Her "strawberry" is healed up already, thank goodness.

Oh, I don't have any close friends with birds, but an aquaintance brought over a pugnacious flighted lovebird who flew all over my apt. onto Luna's climbing tree, onto her playtop, took her toys and dropped them on her, took her millet, and would fly out of reach just as Luna lunged angrily for him. If only that guy could stick around; she'd learn just to be able to snap his neck!


Oh! There is a Grey who is caged alone outdoors with no toys up the street from me. I have been trying to think of a way to get in with these people to help improve the poor lonely bird's quality of life. You just gave me an idea. He may be fully feathered since he's never allowed out of his cage. I could suggest he come over for free-flight in my apartment if : he's healthy, can actually fly and land, and the people are willing to spend a bit of time on a bird that they have pretty much ignored.


Alison and Luna
The bird that lives with me is smarter than me!
allie
 
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Southern USA

Postby MAGGIE- » Sat Oct 07, 2006 8:48 pm

Allie,

GREY'T! You work on helping that lonely bird and his flock. I will see if I can get ideas for landing.

We'll help her "get it!"

Blessings,
Mag-
MAGGIE-
 

Postby allie » Sun Oct 08, 2006 12:14 am

Thanks so much, Maggie :D . I think she gains so much enjoyment and self-confidence from flight. I want her to remain flighted! I already passed along the word to the neighbors that I have a Grey too, and that I'd love for them to visit. We'll see what their response is.
Looking forward to any expert info you may find. Thank you thank you!
Allie
The bird that lives with me is smarter than me!
allie
 
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Southern USA

Postby Maggie- » Sun Oct 08, 2006 2:33 pm

Allie,

Here's some advice from someone who helped her Grey learn to fly. It took 2 years for her to learn to "hover:"


Maggie:

Our CAG came to us clipped at 6 months of age. We kept her clipped until she was about 4 - 4.5 yrs old. She would try to fly & of course she'd crash, so we decided one winter to let her become flighted. NOT!! It took her 2 years to learn to fly & land without crashing.

I had read that if they aren't fledge properly when very young it can take longer for them to learn to fly/hover/land. She'd land in dried flower arrangements, skid across a table, etc. Once she almost ended up in our washing machine!

Another thing I learned is CAG's fly straight & fast, grabbing onto something & coming to a quick jerk stop, until they learn to hover & then touch down. Our CAG would grab onto the dog gates & come to a quick jerk stop. Over time she finally learned to hover, turn thru the rooms & land without crashing. She has yet to learn to land on our hand/arm. We're still in training.

When they learn to hover they can almost stop in mid-air, then hover & slowly touch down. It's really neat to see them do this . Ours prefers to land on the floor & then go for a walk.

I would suggest keeping the windows covered. Shear curtains are enough. If she doesn't have them then tape wax paper to the windows. Maybe use a marker & scribble some lines on it to prevent the bird from going near them. Also do NOT let the bird out while cooking or using any thing hot.

Perhaps she can sort of walk the bird from point "A" to a landing spot, being point "B", say from her hand to the back of a chair or the top of the birds cage. I taught my B&G to fly back to her cage off my arm. She will also fly off my arm, down the stairs & land on the arm of who ever is at the bottom. Once they know where to land it tends to go a bit easier, but you still have crashes until they learn to turn/hover & land properly. I'd try to do short flight training each day, using cue words, so the bird learns to fly on command.

Once our CAG had 2 full years of flight training/landing we clipped her so she could go outside & walk around on our front porch. We were able to take her to the outside aviary wrapped in a towel, but not on the porch until she was clipped again. Anyway even tho she is clipped now she lands so much better than before she learned how to fly/hover/land.

I let my birds, CAG and B&G Macaw become fully flighted each winter so they get to do what nature intended them to do & also to strenghten their muscles. I have had no problems with my birds flying in the house.

EXTREME caution must be in effect to make sure no doors or windows are ever opened when a flighted bird is out of it's cage.



Allie, I will keep searching for ideas.

GREY'T Blessings,
Maggie-
Maggie-
 

Postby allie » Wed Oct 11, 2006 12:18 am

Ahh Thanks so much for getting this info Maggie! I'm sick now so I'll be brief, but Luna actually stepped up from INSIDE her cage the other day for the first time when I asked if she wanted to go to her climbing tree! Well, as I approached she was so eager to get to it that she launched herself at the branches (only about one foot from the branch, but hey) and landed clumsily. BINGO! I thought this is how we can start to work on this. I'll let her go to her tree from my hand from farther and farther away as your friend mentioned. Good to hear this works over time. We have all the time in th world. THANKS!

Allie
The bird that lives with me is smarter than me!
allie
 
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Southern USA

Postby Maggie- » Wed Oct 11, 2006 8:37 pm

That's GREY'T!!! Be sure to buffer the area in whatever way you can so that she is not hurt while learning to do this.

This is really happy news!
Maggie-
Maggie-
 

Postby allie » Thu Oct 12, 2006 10:48 pm

Gosh Maggie, I can't seem to buffer enough! There's always some trauma! Today I approached her climbing tree with her on my arm and she launched herself far before I thought she would and actually hit one wing on one of the smaller points of one of the branches (and still landed successfully, I might add!). She really wants to learn obviously.

However, now I'm worried about that wing and can't check it since she doesn't allow me to handle her (being the previously neglected bird that she is). She knocked out one primary! However, I did mention to you her two coverts(?) I found in the bottom of her cage recently and the fact that she might be molting a bit. The feather that came out I still have so if you tell me what to look for, I can check it for any signs of trauma on the tip. She preened like nuts when I finally got her back in the cage (as she does when stressed) but I didn't see any sign of blood on her feathers or her beak when she finished. Is it possible this feather was loose already? She's not holding the wing out or any other signs of injury. Boy does this bird wanna fly! Three times today! Phew, I'm sick and this was too much for me!

Thanks,
Allie
The bird that lives with me is smarter than me!
allie
 
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Southern USA

Postby Maggie- » Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:07 pm

Allie,

If she is not bleeding or if you do not see a break in the loose feather, she is probably okay and probably was loose.

Here is another post I received:
once had to reteach a budgie how to fly. He was a great flier at the petstore, and I brought him home clipped, however I was afraid he wasn't eating, so I took him out of 'quarantine' and introduced him to my other birds. He wouldn't stay still so I clipped him and then I guess he figured that since he was clipped he wouldn't be able to fly again, even with repeated attempts to fly. I had other budgies I could handle and they flew, but he did not. He could only get max 6 inches off the ground.

I ended up teaching him how to fly by holding him in both hands and tossing him onto my bed. Since he was tamed after clipped this was no issue. The more I tossed him, the stronger he got, the further I'd go to toss him, until after a couple weeks he was flying on his own. He really brightened up then when he learned that he still had the ability to fly!

I currently have a cherry head conure who is fully flighted but cannot fly. She has only been clipped once within the 5 years she has lived with me. I don't think she was clipped in her previous home but I don't know. I tried the same technique on her as I did the budgie, but she just wasn't interested. I tried forcing her to fly while on my hand, and although she likes it in small quantities, she has problems keeping a hold of my hand.... me trying to get her to fly just pissed her off and she'd bite me and hold a grudge for a day or two at least. I do not know if she has the ability to fly or not, but I still hope she does. I'll also be getting a second cherry head (if that's what he is) that can fly, and maybe could incourage her to work her flight muscles. In the least bit, I have come to the conclusion that she may never fly.

The other flightless bird is a whiteface cockatiel. Kiwi is only clipped on one side, however it was all her doing... her tail feathers also tend to be a mess. She's really difficult to handle (not tame in the LEAST bit), picks on her wing when I'm not watching... I do have a collar for her, however I need to put her in a smaller cage, which I have one of, however is currently in use. I may actually be looking into getting a second to put her in, with no guarantee her flights will ever grow back. I know she'd be far better off however being flighted, but it doesn't help that she clipped/clips herself.

I know with larger birds flight training can be a bit more difficult, but if the bird is trusting enough, tossing them onto a soft area forces them to flap, and reduces chance of getting hurt. If they can hold onto your hand well enough then they can be forced to flap while human runs through the house. Some birds though may never learn again.


Luna REALLY does want to fly. I hope some of these tips are helping!

GREY'T Blessings,
Mag-
Maggie-
 

Postby allie » Fri Oct 13, 2006 4:51 pm

Yes, all these stories and tips are great Maggie! All I can ever find is info about clipping birds, not about how to help your bird fly and land and enjoy flight so this is so wonderful. THANKS!

BTW, her wing seems fine today. The shaft of the fallen feather is completely intact and not bent in any way.

Her balcony "aviary" is being constructed finally this weekend!! I'm looking forward to placing ropes and perches just a foot or two apart to see if it encourages her to try her landing skills!

Allie
The bird that lives with me is smarter than me!
allie
 
Posts: 74
Joined: Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:48 pm
Location: Southern USA

Postby Maggie » Sun Oct 15, 2006 10:54 pm

Allie,

I will keep looking for suggestions.
Mag-
Maggie
 


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