Surprise!! My Harlequin can fly!!!!!

[LtlWngdAngl]

So...we were under the impression (as were the last owners) that Mango was not able to fly. Glide gracefully-Yes, Fly-No.

So yesterday my fiance walks outside w/Mango on his shoulder, which he does all the time. One of the kids brought out a remote control car and was playing with it. Well...it's kind of a large car w/real sound fx...and when it started up, it spooked Mango who took off flying about 4ft off the ground. He made it about 4 houses down, crossed a side street, and landed in somone's front lawn!!!! My fiance wasn't too far behind him, scared to death that he would get hurt or fly away. When he got to Mango, he basically jumped up in my fiance's arms and nuzzled and cuddled him. When I got home, he had stopped shaking but was still scared. He cuddled up with me and made me pet him under his wings...no nips, growls, or even talking! He even let me lift up each wing and clip his wings while standing on my fiance's arm...no towel or anything, just lift the wing and cut!! He finally snapped out of it and became his normal self about 7pm last night.

Hopefully he scared himself enough that he won't try that again...but in any case, I'm keeping him clipped from now on!!!!

On a side note...I found it funny when I realized that my macaw lets me clip his wings with no problem, but my 'zon and my TAG would tear me up if I even thought about trying!! You wouldn't think that my small birds (conure and quaker) would put up more of a fight than my macaw about getting their wings clipped!! lol...

[birdlady49]

Whew. How scary. You just used up your freebie.

[tawny30]

OMG thank goodness everything turned out ok.
Something similiar happened to me when I had my citron cockatoo. He was on his outside perch when I was letting the dogs out. The dogs barked and spooked him
He landed on the floor and sprang out the open screen.
Luckily he landed on my neighbors shed and was screaming mom!!!
My dad came over with a ladder and plucked him down.
It was a scary thing! I am just glad your freebie ended up as well as mine did

[ROYJOY]

clipping doesnt guarantee their safty out doors. there are plenty of horror stories about spooked birds getting away regardless, and a clipped bird is at the mercy of preditors if you dont get to him/her in time.