[Monica]

Cindy, you make some great points, however even clipping a bird doesn't remove their capability of flight completely, only temporarily until they go through a molt. One thing that is "common" (seen frequently) with anti-clippers, is that they think it's like comparing the clipping of the wings to removing a dogs two front legs. It's simply not so. Reason is, birds can always grow their flights back out! Now, for the idiots who actually remove one digit of a birds wing are just idiots.

Generally speaking, there isn't much harm that can come about by trimming a birds flights. Yes, it's healthy but it's also possible for them to get excersice in other forms. As for flock dominance being disregarded, I don't think so... I think that birds do have some form of pecking order, and they can shun members of the flock. I don't think there is any dominance in parrots like there are supposedly in a wolf pack, but still, there is some order, otherwise they break out in squabbles which is usually a bunch of screaming, flapping of the wings, and a lot of beak action towards others... And it is seen that males can and do fight over females, too.



For me, whether or not to clip depends on the birds themselves, as well as the situation. Right now, none of my birds are clipped, however my cherry head conure cannot fly, and I have a cockatiel who has one wing destroyed (she is a mutilator). Come spring, I may very well clip one of my tiels, and maybe even the mitred here. But for the most part, the majority of birds remain flighted.