[JulieF]

I just joined this forum yesterday, and I'm on the wait list for my first bird, a male eclectus. I did TONS of research on flighted vs clipped birds, and came to the conclusion that I would keep my bird flighted, despite all the literature and vet advice that says that keeping a flighted bird is irresponsible. It seemed to me that he would be happier, and lead more of a "birdy" life that he was made for.
Having read this post, I am happy to be reassured that keeping my prospective bird flighted is not the most horrible thing in the world to do to him, and that others are keeping their birds flighted with some success, given the precautions that one must take. So thank you all for your posts; they were very informative and make me glad that I joined this forum! :)
An interesting fact that I came across: while in North America it is customary to clip parrots' wings, in Europe almost nobody clips; most pet birds are flighted over there! So that just goes to show that if done properly, there is nothing wrong with it.