How to clip a parrots’ wing
If you are unsure how to
properly clip your parrots’ wings, take the bird to an avian vet for its
first clip.
Let the vet explain to you how
to clip the wings properly and show you as he clips your
bird.
Let him also point out to you
and make you careful of cutting blood feathers. When these are cut they
bleed like an open vein. It is very dangerous.
Never leave
outer primary flight feathers unclipped. Some people miss the first two or
three feathers on the outside for appearances sake.
This is a
bad idea for two reasons. One- it allows the bird to escape, even with the
inner flights cut because it provides a certain amount of
lift.
Two- with nothing to support these outer
feathers, they will most certainly get damaged easily and break, leaving jagged edges which are very
uncomfortable for your bird and will throw it off balance.
Never clip just one wing. your bird will be
totally un-balanced and not be able to flutter in a straight line. This will make the bird panic and crash into
things (including the floor) and injure itself.
Each time your parrot needs to be re-clipped,
the bird will have lost some strength in its wings and may not need so many feathers cut. Therefor you may wish to
gradually reduce the amount of feathers clipped (but never to zero feathers cut!).
Parrot
flying - flying lessons with clipped wings
Start off by teaching your parrot to fly from A to B- just a
short distance such as from your left arm to you right arm.
When the bird does this successfully reward it. Keep
practicing this until the bird gets it right every time.
Then try flying a short distance from different spots, for
example a t-stand to your arm. As before, reward the bird when it gets
this right.
Then try flying a short distance from your arm to the
t-stand (or designated spot).
When you are happy that your bird is an accomplished lander,
it is then appropriate to clip the wings.
It is quite important when giving flying
lessons that you do not encourage your bird to fly long distances, as when the wings are clipped, your bird may
attempt to fly as far as it could prior to clipping, and injure itself.
Parrots - To clip or not to clip
It is not everyone's belief that a domestic
parrot should have its wings clipped. However, I believe that it is very important for the safety of our companion
birds. A bird that can fly can fly into glass or escape out of an open window or door. An escaped domestic bird
will not last long fending for itself. It may be hit by moving traffic, killed by another animal or
starve.
A fate nobody wants for their beloved bird.
Just today I read in the local newspaper a plea from a lady for people to be on the look out for her pet Amazon of
37 years who escaped from his cage and out of the open window. And last week, whilst in the care of my grandma, my
Grey escaped from his cage and went wondering up the garden. We live just off of a very busy road, and had my bird
not had clipped wings, I am sure he would not have survived. For this reason, I advise wing clipping very
strongly.
A clipped bird should still be able to flutter
a fair distance (about 10-15 feet perhaps) so that it is able to land safely if it falls from a height such as the
top of its cage. It should also know how to land safely with clipped wings. In order for it to learn this, your
bird will need to 'fledge'. To do this, do not clip the bird's wings straight away. you may wish to give your bird
flying lessons yourself (a parrot does not automatically know how to fly).
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