Teaching how to fly?

Hi again everyone. I'm the poster who had to have my female euthanized because of polyoma.

Jack is doing really well and has tested negative once at the vet and twice through avianbiotech. So I'm hoping we're out of the woods. He's turning one on Sept 28!

Anyway, he's never been able to fly or even glide gracefully. As a result of crash landings, he's lost a couple of his tail feathers and the rest are pretty ratty-looking. He was clipped when I brought him home, but I haven't had his wings done since.

Is there a way to help him with this? He'll see me and get excited and dive off of the cage with a lot of flapping then drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

So good to hear from you again! And even better that you return with such great news! I was pulling hard for Jack, so I'm overjoyed that it looks like he's going to be okay.

And he's turning one?!? In light of all that happened, that's a big one! This thread has put such a smile on my face.

As for his flying... If he's still dropping like that, his flights have not yet grown fully back in. But despite the fact that he's not yet ready to fly, he's very much ready to begin learning.

I always suggest that, when initially teaching your bird to fly, you should do so in a small room. This limits the speed he can build up before hitting a wall (likely not yet applicable in your case) and allows you more control over the situation.

And I'd suggest using two adjustable height training perches. Start off with them so close that he can walk across with ease. Then target him to the other training stand and reward him with praise and treats for doing so.

Once he's reliably going where you tell him, you can increase the distance a bit. With each successive increase in distance you should have him doing it consistently on command before moving to the next.

Eventually he'll need to hop to get to the other training stick. And then flap his wings once or twice. Once his wings have grown in, you can take it further yet. But in the meantime, he'll be learning the fundamentals of take off and landing. Skills that will serve him well when he's flying.

Once his flights do grow in, you'll want to start adjusting the heights on the training perches. That way he can practice flying from a higher level to lower and vice-versa. (Flying from a higher level to a lower one is a learned skill, and lack of that skill is the reason so many parrots are unable to return to their parronts once they've flown up into a tree. If they haven't been taught, they simply don't know how.)

Once the basics are mastered, you can work on more difficult angles, or recall training from around corners. And then, once you feel he's ready, you introduce him to every window/mirror in your home.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Anansi, what a wonderful reply! I don't know why I didn't think about target training. And teaching how to fly down is another light bulb moment for me as my in laws macaw was stuck in a tree and they couldn't figure out why she wouldn't come to them (but they also thought she wasn't capable of flight at all). You're brilliant!

You have no idea how happy I am that Jack is doing well. He and I have bonded significantly since losing Raja. He's starting to say some intelligible things and it's super adorable and exciting. I'm going to make him a special birthday birdy cake to celebrate.

Thank you, Lizard! I'm glad I was able to help.

And yes, quite a few people have found themselves in a similar predicament to your in laws. How did that work out? You left us quite the cliffhanger, there. Haha!

Any chances of us scoring some pics or videos of Jack?

I didn't realize that I left a cliffhanger, I'm sorry! Tailgate flew from their balcony (so she was up high to start) and was missing for three days. We searched everywhere! We left her cage outside. It was very scary. Finally a neighbor called and said there was a big red bird in his tree. She had to be brought down a ladder in a towel. It's a good cautionary tale for bird owners who think their birds will never fly away. Tailgate is almost ten years old and it was her first flight.

Here she is

And here's a couple of recent phone pics of Jackers

Excuse my 9 pm looks


And this is my daughter who adores Jack and Jack is very tolerant of her.


And finally a very embarrassingly amateur video of Jack. I had to edit down a 12 minute video and this is what I ended up with. My apologies!
[ame="http://youtu.be/FA4-9g8RFSc"]YouTube[/ame]

Both Tailgate and Jack are beautiful! It's great that Jack can get along with your daughter like that. Great photos all around!

Unfortunately, I can't see your video. It's listed as private.

It's shameful, I tell ya!

https://m.youtube.com/?#/watch?v=FA4-9g8RFSc

I set my phone near him to try to capture all of the babbling he does to hear if I could decipher any of it. He says, hi baby, at the very end. Maybe only mom ears can hear it.

Thanks for sharing an update on Jackers and for showing us Tailgate. I am glad to hear tailgate came back, that is my worst fear (Gizmo or Pebbles getting out). I still feel being able to fly well gives them a better chance than being a poor flyer (lots of cats, dogs and wild birds in my local community).

The picture of your daughter with Jack is just great.

All the best with flight training, they really do love to fly around, and can be very agile in the air.

Cheers,

Camo

I actually thought I heard him say hello as well. He has a sweet little voice.