Keeping the Flighted Parrot
Without question, the owner of the flighted parrot must “step up to the plate” and learn the training skills that will serve to keep the parrot safe and compliant. There is the chance that one day the flighted parrot will go through the doorway after the owner and become lost. Whether or not retrieval is successful may well depend upon whether the parrot has been taught the recall (to come when called), has become conditioned to respond to a contact call, and knows how to fly downward.
Another benefit of training will be a parrot who, even though he can fly away, will instead do what you ask of him. Flighted parrots must be taught to come when called, to step up when asked, to leave areas where they should not be, to allow bathing, to go into a carrier, to back into the cage when asked, and otherwise cooperate with us as we care for them. Simple and frequently-cued behaviors, such as stepping up, flying to us and going back into the cage should receive positive reinforcement every time they are performed. While our attention and praise may serve as reinforcement some times, it is best to use a highly-valued small food treat for this purpose. Doing so will achieve the most consistent and reliable response.
Keeping flighted parrots successfully requires a lot more knowledge, skill and effort than does living with clipped parrots. Therefore, it is important to learn all we can about flight itself and the ways to keep flighted parrots successfully. One resource for doing so is the Freeflight Internet Discussion list, found at Yahoo Groups. This discussion list has been in existence for several years and tends to fluctuate in its quality, depending upon the participants. However, it is well worth investigating. If you do so, remember to read posts with your critical thinking skills well in place. Those who participate in these discussion lists will vary widely in their experience with parrots. Those interested can subscribe at this link:
Freeflight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.
Another place to learn about flight is Cockatoo Downs in Oregon. Trainer Chris Shank holds an annual conference for those interested in flight. This is the FlyAbout Flight School and will be held in 2008 on the weekend of May 24 and 25. The first day will be dedicated to keeping flighted parrots in the home. The second day will provide information regarding allowing free flight outdoors. Those interested can find more information at her website:
FlyAbout2008.
Next, owners of flighted parrots must become familiar with recovery strategies. They must plan for the day the parrot does escape. Such planning will help to insure that the parrot is found and returned home again. Information on such strategies is not within the scope of this article. However, this information is available from the Freeflight List and various other Internet sites. Readers may simply Google “what to do if a parrot escapes.”
Owners of flighted parrots will also help to insure recovery if an outdoor aviary is provided and the parrot is allowed regularly to spend time out in it. This allows the parrot to become familiar with the sights and sounds of the neighborhood. This decreases the likelihood that the parrot will be startled by normal neighborhood sounds and fly further away. Parrots familiar with these sounds are more likely to stay near the home.
When keeping a flighted parrot, it is necessary for the owner to live differently, to train himself to remain aware of any possible dangers to the flighted bird. This may involve foregoing use of a ceiling fan, installing double doorways to prevent loss, taking shorter vacations, and training oneself to remain mindful of the parrot’s whereabouts when out of the cage. He must also be willing to creatively provide alternate perching spots in each room and maintain these so that the parrot has acceptable places to perch when moving around the home.
Summary
My goal has been to provide an unbiased discussion of two choices each parrot owner must face. Do I clip this parrot’s wings or do I allow him to be fully flighted in my home? Perhaps, in retrospect, this analysis has not been so unbiased. The astute reader can not help but pick up on my enthusiasm for keeping my own birds flighted. In the beginning of my parrot keeping career, I kept my birds clipped, having been led to believe that this is what the responsible parrot owner does. Once I began breeding, and realized the benefits of fledging to the babies, I had a new awareness of the benefits of flight for all birds. Gradually, as my own knowledge and skill has grown, each of my parrots has become flighted…and safely so. I would never choose to go backwards in this progression of philosophy and practice. In fact, observation of their delight in flying humbles me. Who am I to remove this most significant and defining of abilities?
However, never would I state that my choice is the right one for all parrot owners. Each owner should feel free to carefully examine both sides of the issue to determine which choice may be the right one for him and his birds. No matter what choice is made, to keep the parrot clipped or allow flight, the crucial thing is to always bear in mind that you have in your hands a flighted spirit. Honor that fact, and if you’re going to deny flight, do so kindly and in full consideration of the import of the action.
Short, Lester L. The Lives of Birds. New York, NY: Henry Holt & Co., 1993
Edited by Poole, Robert M. The Wonder of Birds .Washington D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1083.
Ibid.
The Gift of Birds. National Wildlife Federation, 1979.
Page, Jake and Morton, Eugene S. Lords of the Air: The Smithsonian Book of Birds. New York: Smithsonian Institution. 1989
Ibid.
Weidensaul, Scott. Living On the Wind: Across the Hemisphere with Migratory Birds. New York: North Point Press. 1999
Ibid.
Perrins, Christopher. Birds: Their Life, Their Ways, Their World. New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1976.