Question about lost birds

[Jag]

I am a new owner of a GCC. I have been looking at this board, and seeing all the missing birds on here.. and it's really frightening. I have a few questions about how these birds became lost, so I can try to avoid this happening to mine.

Are most of these birds flighted? Were they taken outdoors for some reason and then flew away from there? I know that my little girl can fly a few feet even though she is clipped. However, she's very unsure of herself, and doesn't fly often at all... only when spooked by something, or because she has to 'poo' and doesn't want to go on the person she's sitting on.

Any info would be helpful for those of us new to owning birds to help keep our birds safe. Thanks!

I hope all of your lost birds are returned safe and sound very soon. I can't even imagine the pain of losing your baby...

[Chief's Mom]

I've never lost a bird this way, so I'm sure there are more experienced folks who can tell you about this. I do know that even if your bird is clipped, they may still be able to fly! If they're spooked or get a good gust of wind under their wings, they can go farther/higher than you'd think. The most common problem is once the bird is up in a tree, it doesn't know how to fly down since it's been clipped, and isn't used to flying. (This is by no means a reason to allow free flight though.)

The best way to prevent this is to always have your bird on a harness or in a carrier when going outside. I have little signs on my doors that tell people to keep the doors closed because my house *has gone to the birds!* Most of mine are not clipped; however, Sarge has never flown (he was severely clipped when we rescued him a year ago, and they've all grown back) and Kiwi has some permanent follicle damage where three primary wing feathers do not grow in one side. We also have a big open floor plan with 12' and 14' ceilings and no (human) children. We are able to control the going-ons around here pretty well. And when we can't, they're in their cages.

You can also teach recall training which is a great way to bond with your bird even if you don't ever let her plan on seeing the light of day (which I don't recommend ) If you use the search tool, you'll find many posts and links on recall training. We're working on it with Chief (the only one who is fully and actively flying) and Tootie (who desperately wants to fly, but the wings can't grow back fast enough)!

There are many other things that you should know, but I'm late for church...supposed to be decorating for Easter Sunday. Congrats on the new GCC. They are wonderful!!

[usamma]

Congrats on your new bird!

I usually clip my birds, but at certain times of the year I let their feathers grow in so they can fly. During warm weather, because of kids and ceiling fans I clip them. Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I had my budgies outside in a cage enjoying our good weather. Some had grown their wings back in because of recent molting and I had not had a chance to clip yet. Imagine my shock when I saw one of them outside of the cage!! It had gone from the boy cage to the girl cage and was sitting there on top flirting. I guess the bird was able to slide the feeding door open to escape because all the doors were closed that I could see. I was able to capture him because he was very tame, but it was scary.

One of my female budgies is one we found at the running track last year close to death. She must have escaped from her home.

[GreyGoose]

I lost my CAG Goose because someone left the sliding glass door open. I hear good things about people getting their birds back but they are always clipped and mine wasn't I guess I was stupid for not wanting to clip his wings but we were always so careful and I felt like if I clipped them he would fall and hurt hisself. OF course they dont fly down, I saw him in a tree the next day and he wouldn't come to me but I dont know what I'm going to do without my baby.

[rowdy]

My experence... Had my cockatiels wings clipped for 5 bucks, then he flew right out the door. I did get him back... I clipped my young Quaker wings, I had him on my shoulder outside, he flew a straight line across the street just missed a van and flew about 600 or 700feet and he never tryed to fly before, I got him back. I would never take a bird loose outside. I did it many times for many years with differant birds. I lost one, a very well trained Quaker (Sam) that was on my shoulder outside. Sam went everwhere with me. But it only takes one time. Sam jumped off my shoulder to attack a wild cat, Sam had a problem with attacking dogs, cats, or people he didnt like, and he would usually win. but the cat got him, he was fine except he needed a shot for the cat clawed him, one little bitty puncher. I couldnt afford 12hundred dollars for a Emergency room visit... Never take a bird outside, they can fly with there wings clipped.. My experience...