Monday, October 1, 2007
Wing Clipping Your Parrot
There is a lot of controversy on this subject and some people adamantly disagree and have their own reasons. You have to decide for yourself which opinion feels more comfortable with you.
Having been involved with 911 Parrot Alert www.911parrotalert.com since its inception has reinforced for me the need to have a birds wings clipped unless exceptional circumstances present themselves. For those that do not know what 911 Parrot Alert is. It is a charity that was started by a woman named Donna from Louisiana who saw an ad about a lost parrot and through online discussions she decided to open 911 Parrot Alert. It is an organization complete run by volunteers who check for lost and found birds in as many locations they can find and then add them to a database in the hopes of reuniting owners with their lost pets. It is also now recognized as the leading place to post your lost parrot. There are mountains of information on how to recover a lots pet as well.
It has now grown into an international organization with volunteers around the world and was critical in helping the birds during the Katrina crisis as Donna lived in New Orleans and gave home to some 600+ displaced birds during the crisis. Now that is a story of its own!
I was astonished to see the shear volume of birds every year in Ontario alone that go missing due to accidental escapes. The numbers are mind boggling! Last summer 8 African Grey’s alone! That is only one species! The number of budgies and cockatiels is in the hundreds not to mention other species including macaws, conures, amazons and much more! Remember I am only speaking of Ontario! Around the world thousands of birds accidentally escape their homes each year!
• Windows accidentally left open
• Visitors or deliveries to the door
• Birds jumping on your back as you walk out the door where you are unaware of them
• Birds seeing you leave and wanting to go with you
• Sudden frights while outside can give some birds enough strength to fly off
• Some people actually do take their flighted birds outside with them without protection!
• Escapes from cages while outside
• Some are let out by small children
• There are even some that can still fly even with a clip!
• Birds that have grown in some of their clipped feathers unnoticed by the owners
I am a firm believer in taking our parrots outside and socializing them and giving them sunlight and fresh air for good health. It is critical to their well being whether that be in a cage or loose or tethered. You will have to determine your birds flying ability to determine which way is safest for him.
It is not only for taking birds outside that a wing clip can benefit. There are many household hazards that flying birds have died for in the past. Boiling pots, toilets, sinks full of dishes, fly strips, ceiling fans and there are many many more that can harm or kill our birds within our own home no matter how careful we think we are!
One of the other benefits of clipping would be for those birds that have a tendency to bite and attack people. If the bird is clipped then YOU have to approach the bird in order to get bit! It can also lessen some of the aggressive tendencies in some birds. I always suggest that aggressive birds be fully clipped at all times.
I mentioned earlier about exceptional circumstances. There is one bird that came to the rescue that was flighted and I did clip him for two reasons. First he wanted to be able to go outside with the other birds and would fly to the front door and when I opened the door he would walk outside. Secondly while I was out one day he ate my brand new dining room set!
Max was a disabled Green Wing Macaw approximately 35 years old. She had been exposed to metal poisoning 15 years before arriving at the rescue and the treatment had atrophied her legs and feet so that she was unable to use them and walked along on her elbows. It was quite sad but Max was a happy bird. She couldn’t perch like most birds so we designed Max a special play stand that had a flat wooden perch that we covered in carpeting to give her a soft place to rest.
Wanting so much for Max to enjoy the out of doors with the rest of the birds I did clip her wings. She was able to come outside with us and loved being out there. However it did make life for her more difficult as she became lazy from losing the ability to fly around and spent more and more time on her play stand and developed soars on her elbows from constantly having to stand on them. She used to climb over to her cage once in a while and was able to perch on the thin bars resting her elbows over the bars which allowed for different postures and a rest off her elbows. Since the clip she no longer did that which resulted in the soars on her elbows. The point I am trying to make here is that I would never clip Max or a bird like Max again. I will look for other ways of getting them outside by a harness instead or in a cage. We all learn by our mistakes. I learned my lesson!
A harness is not my personal choice as I have seen owners struggling with their birds to get a harness on them and the birds fighting back which in itself can be dangerous and certainly not fun for a bird that hasn’t been trained properly to where a harness! It’s a lot of frustration on both bird and people just so they can keep their bird flighted for flying around the home! However the dangers described above are only a few of the household hazards for flighted birds. As well being flighted allows for accidental escapes.
I hope given the information above that you will consider clipping as the best means of keeping your parrot safe
.
Having been involved with 911 Parrot Alert www.911parrotalert.com since its inception has reinforced for me the need to have a birds wings clipped unless exceptional circumstances present themselves. For those that do not know what 911 Parrot Alert is. It is a charity that was started by a woman named Donna from Louisiana who saw an ad about a lost parrot and through online discussions she decided to open 911 Parrot Alert. It is an organization complete run by volunteers who check for lost and found birds in as many locations they can find and then add them to a database in the hopes of reuniting owners with their lost pets. It is also now recognized as the leading place to post your lost parrot. There are mountains of information on how to recover a lots pet as well.
It has now grown into an international organization with volunteers around the world and was critical in helping the birds during the Katrina crisis as Donna lived in New Orleans and gave home to some 600+ displaced birds during the crisis. Now that is a story of its own!
I was astonished to see the shear volume of birds every year in Ontario alone that go missing due to accidental escapes. The numbers are mind boggling! Last summer 8 African Grey’s alone! That is only one species! The number of budgies and cockatiels is in the hundreds not to mention other species including macaws, conures, amazons and much more! Remember I am only speaking of Ontario! Around the world thousands of birds accidentally escape their homes each year!
• Windows accidentally left open
• Visitors or deliveries to the door
• Birds jumping on your back as you walk out the door where you are unaware of them
• Birds seeing you leave and wanting to go with you
• Sudden frights while outside can give some birds enough strength to fly off
• Some people actually do take their flighted birds outside with them without protection!
• Escapes from cages while outside
• Some are let out by small children
• There are even some that can still fly even with a clip!
• Birds that have grown in some of their clipped feathers unnoticed by the owners
I am a firm believer in taking our parrots outside and socializing them and giving them sunlight and fresh air for good health. It is critical to their well being whether that be in a cage or loose or tethered. You will have to determine your birds flying ability to determine which way is safest for him.
It is not only for taking birds outside that a wing clip can benefit. There are many household hazards that flying birds have died for in the past. Boiling pots, toilets, sinks full of dishes, fly strips, ceiling fans and there are many many more that can harm or kill our birds within our own home no matter how careful we think we are!
One of the other benefits of clipping would be for those birds that have a tendency to bite and attack people. If the bird is clipped then YOU have to approach the bird in order to get bit! It can also lessen some of the aggressive tendencies in some birds. I always suggest that aggressive birds be fully clipped at all times.
I mentioned earlier about exceptional circumstances. There is one bird that came to the rescue that was flighted and I did clip him for two reasons. First he wanted to be able to go outside with the other birds and would fly to the front door and when I opened the door he would walk outside. Secondly while I was out one day he ate my brand new dining room set!
Max was a disabled Green Wing Macaw approximately 35 years old. She had been exposed to metal poisoning 15 years before arriving at the rescue and the treatment had atrophied her legs and feet so that she was unable to use them and walked along on her elbows. It was quite sad but Max was a happy bird. She couldn’t perch like most birds so we designed Max a special play stand that had a flat wooden perch that we covered in carpeting to give her a soft place to rest.
Wanting so much for Max to enjoy the out of doors with the rest of the birds I did clip her wings. She was able to come outside with us and loved being out there. However it did make life for her more difficult as she became lazy from losing the ability to fly around and spent more and more time on her play stand and developed soars on her elbows from constantly having to stand on them. She used to climb over to her cage once in a while and was able to perch on the thin bars resting her elbows over the bars which allowed for different postures and a rest off her elbows. Since the clip she no longer did that which resulted in the soars on her elbows. The point I am trying to make here is that I would never clip Max or a bird like Max again. I will look for other ways of getting them outside by a harness instead or in a cage. We all learn by our mistakes. I learned my lesson!
A harness is not my personal choice as I have seen owners struggling with their birds to get a harness on them and the birds fighting back which in itself can be dangerous and certainly not fun for a bird that hasn’t been trained properly to where a harness! It’s a lot of frustration on both bird and people just so they can keep their bird flighted for flying around the home! However the dangers described above are only a few of the household hazards for flighted birds. As well being flighted allows for accidental escapes.
I hope given the information above that you will consider clipping as the best means of keeping your parrot safe
.
Labels: parrot rescue, parrot safety, parrot wing clipping, wing clipping
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