How do birds take off to fly?

[strudel]

My galah got a bit of a fright from something and went for a bit of a flight. She landed on the venetian blinds. I was in the middle of something that I couldn't drop straight away so I called to her to come over and stuck out my other arm. She wasn't having any of "that" and she just stayed where she was, looking at me. Then she started climbing up. I retrieved her manually.

I know this is probably a dumb question, but I really have no idea about a lot of things. Can big birds like her take off from venetian blinds? Is there some mechanical or height reason why they can't just leap from things inside and fly, or was she just not wanting to do it because it was strange and scary?

 

[Mudkips]

I think that she was nervous about pushing off an unstable surface, and requested your help instead.
Nobody would want to jump sideways off a swing. It seems to me like she was worried about getting a decent push off the blinds into flight, and would rather wait for your assistance!

 

[strudel]

Thanks, she's never pushed off any surface except when she gets a fright. She climbs and walks, she doesn't flutter about. I've never actually seen her take off from anywhere to see how she would do it.... I don't know whether it was the blinds she didn't want to take off from, or whether she can take off from anywhere "normally".

 

[weco]

Except for raptors that attack in a downward flight motion, my birds take a slight jump to get a bit of air under their wings or if they're in an open area, they will stand up before starting to flap their wings, but I agree with Mudkips about the unstable surface...same reason a bird refuses to step-up on wiggling fingers.....

 

[Birdman666]

She would have to turn and leap and then flap... which obviously made her nervous. Would I hit the ground and hurt myself before I generated enough lift to prevent it from happening? I don't know so I won't risk it.

Normally it's flap first, and generate enough lift to at least be assured of gliding gently down, THEN leap off... or at the very least with a confident flyer, leap and start flapping at the same time - not leap off and then flap.

This would have been leap, twist, turn - then flap. Nope! I'll climb up and turn around and get some lift first... Face planting is just so embarrassing!

Of course, so is - Hey! A little help here... I'm stuck!

 

[riddick07]

I agree with everyone else she just wasn't confident enough to do it from that surface. I have two daredevils who will lean forward, let go, fall for a second and then flap. All my others will push off and flap or leap and flap at the same time.

 

[strudel]

Thanks for the replies

but I agree with Mudkips about the unstable surface.

It wasn't just unstable, it wasn't underneath her and she was hanging on sideways.

This would have been leap, twist, turn - then flap. Nope!

It's good to know that she has so much common sense. It does make sense (she's got more common sense than I have). I wonder whether she would have flown down if I'd let her climb up, but I was worried about her wrecking the blinds and I have high ceilings so I'd have had to get a ladder to retrieve her if she'd gone right up there so I didn't want to find out.

I have two daredevils who will lean forward, let go, fall for a second and then flap. All my others will push off and flap or leap and flap at the same time.

I suppose it boils down to experience and personality as to what they'll do.

Because she's adopted, I have no idea about her previous flying experience. Galahs don't seem to be "big flyers", when you see them out and about, they are walking around usually. She won't fly over to me from her playstand, she'll climb down and walk across the "stuff" in her way (there's a chair and furniture). She could fly around the house, but she's never seemed interested in doing it. The one day I left her cage door open, I found her sitting up on the filing cabinet. I suspect she just climbed up there and stayed there, she didn't fly all about the place (also because she was kept busy eating a computer keyboard she found up there)