Flighted Zons ?

[Birdman666]

In my case, I have two large dogs, so I don't clip Sammy. While I love the dogs, and trust them around people etc., all dogs are prey-driven to a certain extent, and you're never totally sure what might trigger them.

A close friend of mine had Jack Russells and, while he was babysitting his mom's Cockatiel (that she'd had for many years), the bird & dogs got along famously for several months, with the bird sometimes sleeping on the dogs. One day the bird made a bad landing on the edge of a door & fluttered down to the floor (it was semi-flighted). One of the dogs (that in all its 14 years had never shown any prey drive at all) just snapped, and killed the bird in an instant.

I want my birds to have the ability to get out of dog range if needed!

Makes perfect sense to me!

 

[Kiwibird]

Lila was wild caught. She flies like a wild bird. Unfortunately, she also spooks easily, like a wild bird, so I have to keep her semi-flighted. (She only flies from food dish to food dish.)

This is interesting. Lucy was also wild caught (as an adult) and is a extremely talented flier who easily navigates the house and can essentially do ariel acrobatics. However, if something much bigger than a squirrel walks past the window (stray cat/dog, large bird ext..) she takes off in a blind panic and has smacked right into walls before. I wonder if this is a wild caught bird thing? I also wonder (if this is a wild bird thing), if in nature they would smack into a tree instead of a wall? One would think after living decades in a house they would be as adapt to flying in one as in the forest so I'm betting crashes do happen in nature, we just don't necessarily get to witness them very often.

Her 'mate' was taught to fly by my parents He is not as skilled as Lucy and prefers riding a human hand to flying, but he also doesn't panic as bad either. She's been a fully flighted bird her whole life though, and so long as my mom is home (which is all the time except a few hours a week running errands) and not cooking, the amazons are never in their cages. Theres no good way to prevent the occasional flight mishap. It would be beyond cruel to clip her. She is one of those birds who would be profoundly affected if she lost flight. She was pretty affected when her mate lost his ability to fly after his stroke several years ago. She doesn't leave the bird area as much and hangs close to him. Probably senses he's venerable and doesn't want a predator getting him.

 

[Birdman666]

Well, the wild survival instinct kicks in, and the thought process is instant fight or flight. If the predator is far enough away, it's a no brainer. "FLIGHT - GET OUT OF HERE." Don't wait for that thing to get any closer... it's really kind of a blind panic.

Whereas... my captive bred birds? Sweepea or tusk sees a squirrel?! (Or a cat?!) "I SOOO WANNA MESS WITH THAT THING... This is gonna be so much fun!!!" THEY GO OUT OF THEIR WAY JUST TO MESS WITH IT...

Lila sees a cat, she's outta there. Fly away, or retreat to the highest spot she can find, and put it in hypervigilent mode...

Tusk sees a cat, he's gonna draw attention to himself by yelling at it, and pelting it with something.

The difference is night and day.

Demitre - Stupid bird - flew off in a panic and sought out the spot where the other bird was... That other bird was a great horned owl! Needless to say, that didn't end well...

Captive bred birds have some wild bird instincts, but don't always have "street smarts." And they think they're tougher than they are.

Wild birds know you don't fight unless you absolutely have to!

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

It's always interesting to hear about other wild caught birds. Zilla was wild caught, but doesn't seem to have the same fight or flight instincts as others I hear about. She is not one bit afraid of the cats, if they come too close she just opens her beak and tries to "taste" them. She doesn't seem to be mad or scared, just curious! They see open beak coming their way and run away.

It's kind of funny watching a 26 pound maine coon cat run away from a 1 1/2 pound bird!

She also doesn't startle easily to loud noises or things she doesn't recognize. She will get behind toys in her cage and make herself small and quiet, but doesn't really "freak" out unless I put something "strange" inside her cage.

 

[Kiwibird]

Wonder if Zilla was caught as a baby or perhaps if she's just been around lots of animals her whole life and is desensitized? My parents have never had dogs or cats because of their birds and all their birds are "one home their entire lives" so they've never been exposed to a different type of household. Besides the odd stray going by the window, they don't see larger animals like that ever. I *so* wish our rescue birds could tell us their "stories" and "experiences"

Kiwi is on the side of "I want to attack it" when it comes to larger animals. The house we got him from had more animals than one could count running loose everywhere, so I suppose he became acclimated to them. Though, it will be interesting as time goes on to see if he looses that confidence, seeing as we won't ever be getting dogs or cats as pets.

 

[Amanda_Bennett]

Her back story (if you can believe anything I was ever told about her) is that she was bought as a young bird by a "younger guy" who didn't stay on the right side of the law and was always going to jail. She was passed around amongst his friends whenever he went "away" and then when he would get out he would get her back, and this went on for over 20 years. Then he ran into one of his High school "buddies" one day and that guy talked him into giving her to his (the buddies) parents so she could have a "stable loving home". These are the people who had her for a little over 6 years and fed her the crap she had been eating. They in turn gave her to a guy (not so close friend of mine) who had her for about 8 days and then gave her to me.

I was told her original owner (jail guy) used to do a lot of drugs, feed her pot seeds, blow the pot smoke in her face, etc... and I'm sure the friends he left her with when he went to jail probably treated her the same way he did, though I have no proof of any of this, just stories I was told.

I will never know if she was a baby or an adult bird when caught and imported to the US. If she could only tell me! Brian at the bird hut said her leg band indicates she is at least 27 or 28 years old and wild caught (how he knows that I don't know except I know a split band indicates wild caught)

 

[Hawk]

My meaning of "Flighted " is they can fly around the house and land were their supposed to. Does any ones Zon do this or know of one?I have 3 birds out of my flock that can fly out to see who they want . No Im not clicker training. Im thinking of maybe a baby Zon in the spring. I might go through the same breeder I got my RB2 from . He came knowing how to fly and come to you. She said all her birds do this. I just never hear of Zons flying unless their coming to get you Any one hear of this?

My Zon( Blue fronted) is able to do that..At 8 years old she pretty much has total freedom. Their wings are quite beautiful anyway to have them clipped. My zon has never been clipped. She has quite a large cage, with assortment of perches, her boing, and large roped ring that hangs from 12 foot ceiling. She never has her cage shut. She sleeps on her ring at night, or in her cage.
In summer she goes in truck with us, and spends a couple hours outside with us each day. And never once ever tried to fly when outside. She loves it. She does once in a while fly off her cage to come find me. Has an amazing volcabulary for a zon.
My oldest Zon I trust to not have to lock her up in cage, And she's one very happy Zon. Potty trained, and verbally asks for treats and water,...Tried to turn on stereo saying " want to sing"...never gets the buttons right though.

 

[henpecked]

Good point. The wild birds do react differently than hand raised babies. My wild caught hen of 45 yrs will jump around a water hose or rope, extension cord, etc. (snake i think) . The flighted hand raised babies are much more tolerate and don't startle as easily.IMO ,,,, i do live with a house full of zons, Some can be flighted and some can't be trusted not to cause major trouble, (and be very sneaky about it). Starting a big ruckess is a lot of fun to many of my zons. And Yes, those short ,stubby wings are made to fly in tight spaces, like your home.My over weight nape hen has her outer 4 primarys clipped and she can fly though door ways over chairs and attack who ever has incurred her wrath. LOL, if you don't think she's the queen bee just ask her.

 

[95talongirl]

Well, I let Mopar's wings grow in for the first time this past year. He flies quite well, and it fins myself always in awe watching him. The colors are so beautiful. He is quite good at it, and able to navigate well. I have been working with him to get him to fly to the cage with a command. He seems to enjoy it. Other than our little games, he doesn't fly around that much. So I plan on keeping him flighted baring some chance he turns aggressive. Mopar will be turning 3 this year, so I have been watching for signs of hormones. Lol!