Ollie's Aviator Harness!

[Jong81]

I'm just curious, the harness is to teach the bird to fly outside? What does it do exactly? Turn your parrot into a kite? Lol ... I have to plead ignorance here. :-) Forgive me.

[cfulhage]

Originally Posted by Jong81

I'm just curious, the harness is to teach the bird to fly outside? What does it do exactly? Turn your parrot into a kite? Lol ... I have to plead ignorance here. :-) Forgive me.

The one that I have has only about a 2 foot long bungee cord attached. It is just so I can take Ollie outside with me and I dont have to worry about her getting spooked and flying off my hand. The idea of the bungee cord is that so if she is spooked and starts to fly, she wont be jolted. I dont ideally want her to fly, I just want her to be able to go places with me, safely. The harness that I have will have a longer bungee cord available soon, I don't remember the length...I think spectre said 20 ft? I'm not sure what the purpose of this would be. Your guess is as good as mine!

[Freedomoflight]

40 ft would be for flight training, for flighted birds.

[Tiki]

I wouldn't use too long a rope as predators can snatch a bird who is free flying too far away from the owner's protection. The one I use is about 3 feet long and even then I keep an eye out for any dangers like hawks.

[spectre]

Hi,
Would you worry about any size pet parrot being taken by hawks? I figured something around the B&G size or GReenwing would be safe.

[willowbirdy218]

Originally Posted by cfulhage

Ollie will be 6 months old on the first of November. She was originally Oliver, but DNA sexed female after it was too late to change the name. I was already calling Oliver, Ollie for a nickname anyways...She Oliver became Ollie Grace!
Ollie is sooooooooo picky! I have tried nutriberries (2 different flavors), cheerios, dried fruit, sunflower seed kernels, peanut butter (sticks to her beak and she HATES that), almonds, walnuts.
I haven't tried oatmeal, or beak appetit. I thought I had read that millet wasn't safe to give african greys, and other larger parrots, because the little seeds, etc. are so light that they can fly up and become lodged in their nares. Maybe I read that in Bobbi Brinker's For the Love of Greys?? My tiel loves millet, but I have never given it to Ollie after hearing this. Please tell me if this is not true!
She loves seeds, but is currently refusing to eat pellets, so I dont want to give her any more seed than what is mixed in with her pellet. What do people that you watch on tv working with their parrots give as treats after they do something right? It has to be something they eat quickly, so they can move on to the next "act." Maybe some sort of a nut, I'm guessing?
Ollie has weird habits...she did like almonds for about 4 days after I introduced them to her. Now she wont even look at them. She also loved dry pasta for awhile, now she ignores that. I'm worried for the time she gets tired of her seed and pellets...what the heck do I feed her then?? darn picky parrot!!

Wow, Willow will be 1 year and 6 months on the third of November (time goes by so fast!)!!

Willow and Ollie sound like complete opposites!! Willow will eat almost anything I give him!! I never heard that about millet...now I might worry about this!! What else can you give as treats....hmmmm....how about other types of nuts or....I don't know Ollie's got me stumped. Are you looking for suggestions for just treats or other types of food you can give her as a "meal?"

[Alika]

You'd be surprised. I wouldn't put it past some hawks to try to take down a macaw. We had a small cooper's hawk chase our SC2 in a show once... I would have thought that THEY were too big (the cooper's was wild... NOT one of our birds!). Given that, I wouldn't put it past a red tail to try it's luck with a macaw, if the opportunity presented itself.

I am going to look into this harness more. I'd like to try it out with Sam.

[The Outlaw]

I wouldn't put it past a hawk to kill a macaw. They are big and quick. I know that hawks routinely pull aviary birds right through the wire. We have some pretty big red tails and even some young bald eagles that occasionally fish in my pond and that's only about 10 feet from my aviary. That's why my birds are never out unless I'm home.

[Alika]

Originally Posted by The Outlaw

We have some pretty big red tails and even some young bald eagles that occasionally fish in my pond and that's only about 10 feet from my aviary. That's why my birds are never out unless I'm home.

How cool is that? I'd kill to have bald eagles fishing out of my pond!

(which isn't really my pond... it's owned by the complex... and it doesn't even have fish in it... but STILL!!!)

[cfulhage]

Originally Posted by willowbirdy218

Wow, Willow will be 1 year and 6 months on the third of November (time goes by so fast!)!!

Willow and Ollie sound like complete opposites!! Willow will eat almost anything I give him!! I never heard that about millet...now I might worry about this!! What else can you give as treats....hmmmm....how about other types of nuts or....I don't know Ollie's got me stumped. Are you looking for suggestions for just treats or other types of food you can give her as a "meal?"

I know! I cant believe I've already had Ollie for almost 4 months! Ollie acts like she wants anything I'm eating...and she tries it whole-heartedly- but it never gets past her mouth! She just likes to steal what I'm eating and drop it on the floor for me to pick up! I wish she was more like your Willow!! I'm am mostly just looking for treats so I can reward her for being good, ie. letting me get her harness on. Any suggestions would be great!