bird wing clipping and how does it impact the bird

[speeran]

Hi All,

I am new to this forum.

I had a question for the experts here, I have a pair of Sun conure and I live in India by the way. There are not many bird experts here , there are many animal ones but I am not sure if they are good enough for birds. Hence , I joined this forum to get my questions clarified.

So , the question I had is, "Bird is usually associated with flight, but I have trimmed my bird's wings to the point that it does not take off but just enough for it to fly horizontally and reach a place inside my house (its another thing that my birds prefer to walk than fly for short distances). Since, they use so much of their feet (for moving to different places inside my house and also for the entire night where they sleep in standing position) , how does that affect their feet , what happens to their feet ? which is used for such a long time."

I cant imagine how I would feel, if I have to be on my feet the entire day.

Any information around this would be of great help for me to understand my dear birds and what I can do to make their life easier.

Thanks
Syed

 

[sskmaestro]

Hi,
I am from India as well and have the experience of keeping alexandrines love birds pigeons budgies etc., for more than 10 years collectively. coming to the point of clipping wings, i dont think it will have a negative impact on the bird unless it is taken good care for its safety in your home. make sure ur bird is away from attacks of cats, dogs, crows etc., moreover never perch your bird at big heights, sometimes they may jump and cramp their feet. its unfair to make a clipped bird to stand at heights. most of the trimmed feathers will regrow when ur bird starts to molt. mean while make sure to train them on how to stand still on a perch using a aviary harness. never mind of birds walking on floor, birds tend to walk a lot even in wild, haven't you seen any parrots walking on floor in India?

 

[speeran]

thanks for such a quick response, all I wanted to know was that is it ok for the birds to walk walk and walk always. Is the wear and tear over the years going to affect their feet in anyway and are there any precautionary step we can take before hand.

Thanks again.

Syed

 

[Kiwibird]

Parrots have a very different anatomy than us, and their skeletal system is designed to be on their feet most of the time. They are not long distance flyers and do not spend nearly as much time flying as they do standing in nature. The biggest issue to a birds feet is actually the perches they stand on. If they are on a uniformly round, straight dowel-type perch (the type they often include in cages), that is very bad. They need several perches of varied sizes and materials (such as a natural branch, a rope and a cement perch) to keep their feet healthy. Toenail clipping is also essential once the nails start getting long, as overgrown nails can impair a birds ability to properly perch and get around.

What clipping affects is the chest and back muscles the bird would use for flying. However, if your bird can still make short flights, and is outside his cage enough to do that a few times a day, he will be fine Where those issues come in is people who clip and the bird does not/cannot fly at all and the owner takes no steps to get them working their wings to keep their muscles strong, but that doesn't sound like the case for you.

Edit: IF you want your bird to come on walks, you will need to train him to wear a harness of flight suit so he can be safely and comfortable on a leash and cannot fly away. Even a clipped bird can get pretty far if a gust of wind catches them. Harnesses cost next to nothing online.

 

[veimar]

I'm not an expert, but I would say that for bird safety the clipping of the wings is a MUST (except cockatoos or other species that can have problems with clipped wings). Especially if you live in warm country and have your doors/windows open. There is nothing wrong with the bird being on their feet - they are like that either their wings are clipped or not. The other thing I read that bird feels bad being not able to fly. Well, with correct clipping the birds CAN fly pretty well - they just cannot fly too fast or too far. My conure flies around very nicely, but not more then 10 feet at most (about 3m). He loves to fly and I encourage him to do that (he is still very young). But I know that in summer I can take him out and wouldn't be afraid that he can fly away from my backyard.

 

[jenphilly]

If your bird can fly a little, even just breaking their fall to the ground, or as you say, your conures can fly 10'. Take a bird that can fly 10' outside, you need to know a good wind will give that same bird plenty of lift to carry your bird quite a long distance.... many times too far for you to track it or for it to have any clue about where they are or how to get home.

I am not a fan of clipping, its totally personal, but please do not think because your bird has semi clipped wings that they won't get away if outside. If you take your bird outside and you have done done extensive recall training, you should have a harness or flight suit on that bird.

We have birds from parakeets to cockatoos and I do not understand how my cockatoos must have their wings anymore then the conures. Clipping wings can result in the same behavior problems and emotional issues from the smallest to the bigger guys.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Veimar, thank you for opinion - and that is all it was, nothing more and nothing less.

This is a sizzling hot topic, one that has been chewed to the extent that one would only require a straw to swallow it.

I will attach a plethora of links now where this particular subject has been addressed, and the thread will then be closed.

http://www.parrotforums.com/new-mem...o-question-clipping-wings-vs-full-flight.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/19291-clipping-wings.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-health-care/3587-clipping-their-wings-unhealthy.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/general-parrot-information/41983-flighted-vs-clipped-wings.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/conures/35304-clipped-wings-after-being-fully-flighted-almost-year.html

http://www.parrotforums.com/congo-timneh-greys/25893-flighted-clipped.html

There are more, please just use the search function to find them.