How do you do it?

[locito277]

I have a question that has been eating me up for some time now. I see people with pics of their parrots outside. How do you keep them from flying away? My blue and gold can glide even with her wings clipped. My Harlequins never tried. My concern is that I want to build them a large out door aviary but I don't have a way of transferring them as I would need a massive door/aviary to bring the cage in and out to release them inside the aviary and even then they can get away during this process. Any suggestions??

 

[weco]

If you can't handle your birds bodily, you'll probably need a travel cage to transfer them in.....

Though you may not see them, many birds are trained to tethers or their owners are trusting them to not fly off.....

 

[locito277]

Forgive my ignorance but what is trained to tethers? I definitely wouldn't trust them not to fly away. Too much to leave to chance in my opinion :-()

 

[gemini84]

a teather is a harness, a leash as such for birds. it allows your bird the freedom to fly with out the fear of them flying away

 

[Featheredsamurai]

I would never take a bird outside, clipped or flighted, without a harness.

Here is Rosie in her harness

 

[noblemacaw]

I use the aviator harness on my RFM Valentino. For over 20 years I have had parrots this is by far the best design on a harness for parrots I ever seen. If my parrot is not in a crate they are in a harness. I trained them to wear/tolerate it because I have always kept them flighted. They wear it for their protection and for my sanity.

I am tempted to train Valentino for free flight but I think I am too nervous about too many things that can go wrong. I will include a pic of my Illiger's macaw Diego wearing a harness from long ago. The aviator is much better than this one and does not have all that metal that shows in Diego's harness. Granted I didn't fly Diego in this harness so all that metal never came into play for harming him. I still didn't like it but the plastic clasp he would break in a nanosecond.

Since spring is VERY SLOW to arrive here I have not taken Valentino outside yet. Highs in the 20's with lows in the single digits it is still winter here.

 

[LoryLover]

If you can't carry your bird outside without it flying away, how about putting it in a small cage you can carry, to transfer it to the outdoor aviary. I have a hanging cage outdoors, and I just carry my lory out there. She sits on my finger and I have my thumb over one of her feet. She wouldn't just willingly fly away for the heck of it, but she gets spooked easily. She has flown off about 3 or 4 times from being spooked by something she saw outside, but she always came back to us within seconds. She is super bonded to us. Our first lory would fly outside and come right back to us when we jingled keys or a bell. We trained him to do that, and he was very bonded to us as well, plus he didn't spook easily. Even when we had lovebirds, we had them outside at times. For us, we just like to be very interactive with our birds, and also have them experience as much of life as possible.

 

[Turquoise]

I plan to build an outside aviary that I can have my macaws in, but only when I am able to sit with them. Mine will be attached to my back door, eliminating the need for a harness or travel cage.

When Roscoe, my youngest Catalina was under a year old, I was able to get the aviator harness on him. Now he thinks the part that goes over his head is a new chew toy. He has no intention of wearing it anymore.

 

[locito277]

1wow guys thanks for all the replies. The Harness would be great but they dont let me grab them. Funny thing is the Harlequin will go on the sofa and climb on my leg on his own but Im kinda scared to grab him :-( 2 years and I only carried him once due to my fear LOL. The B&G well shes anti social and has no interest in me. She bit me once lol but her beak is not Macs :-() The Idea of the smaller cage can work. I have a big travel kennel for them and I guess I can get them acclimated to getting into it prior to getting the aviary. Maybe I should man up and pick him up but the unknown is worse than the bite Im sure LOL

 

[locito277]

BTW with the guy who raised them. He carries and pets them and its amazing. Hes the one who got me to pick the Harlequin during a grooming visit. I like keeping their wings unclipped as they are so beautifully breathtaking. The HGarlequin doesnt try to fly but th eB&G takes off in the house from time to time when they bicker in the playpen. I will try to post some pics later.

 

[Parrotdise]

Another way besides a harness would be to make a aviary with a double door so that if they did follow you one door would always remain shut. You could transfer the birds via travel cage. I know some people feel that have trained their bird to stay put but there is always the chance of getting startled by a hawk or something. Not worth it in my book. My sister actually lost our very first parrot out the door thinking "he's clipped", a little boy found our beloved Sidney dead on the way to school. He is proof a clipped bird can catch loft. Sidney kept going higher and higher up without flight wings it makes it hard for a bird to come back down. I know this is personal choice and i respect that just a little concerned for the poster below.

 

[JJones1719]

Both my boys are clipped, I take them for walks throughout my community and my Neighbors come out to greet them. People walking their dogs will stop by to say hello. Both my boys are clipped. I hold them by their foot on each bird as seen on my profile picture. They have never tried to leave me knowing that I am their protector.
While in my home, they are both out of shape. When they do fly just a little to their cages, they are breathing heavy and by the looks on their face, it's as if they are saying, (what was i thinking trying to fly across the room when my owner is the one who takes me places). lol
If you do not handle them, then I would advise you to get a carrier, or leash train them.

The important thing hears is the outside aviary.
Please make sure you know what your doing. most Macaws can bite through wiring so know what type of wiring to use.
make sure that the aviary is built on a concreate surface and is very easy to clean with a hose and soap. Snakes and small animals can dig under the fence that can harm or kill your Macaw. Please also have a solid top to prevent other birds flying above who may have to go to the bathroom and do this while in flight over your aviary. Birds can contract illness from other bird droppings. Best of luck Joe

 

[locito277]

Yea Im guessing their travel kennel is my only choice As for the construction Im pretty set as Im hiring a company that makes them for a living. I guess Ill stick with a tiki hut type since a aviary with double doors will be way too big and expensive. What plants would you recommend for inside. I know there are many toxic plants but I know spider plants, little palms etc. so long as their potting material has no frtilizer or additives. Any suggestions?

 

[jendaymumma]

Birds sense fear and insecurity as do people, dogs, cats, and other species. Both of my feather friends were damaged. I lost one of my babies 11/25/12. He came with a glove for my hand in his "domain" (cage). I NEVER used that glove. Do not think you'll never get bitten. Remember in the wild they use the beak to stabilize from branch to branch. My parrot, Bob, bites me less + less. I know he'll bite + it HURTS. Get some CD's, teach them tricks. Bob loves to play ball. Type in How to stop your parrots from biting you. You'll be amazed. okay? MARGE (Jendaymumma)






















Rrr

 

[Greenwing]

I personally never take any of my birds outside unless they are contained... I see a lot of people down here walking around with a parrots on there shoulder.... And I can't help but think what would happen if a hawk comes around and takes or tries to take the parrot from them... A friend of mine lost his amazon to a peligri hawk..He had the habit of walking around his property with the The bird on his shoulder with a make shift tether to the birds leg band(bird was clipped and had never flown in the 5 yrs he had him...he tells me he never heard or saw the hawk.. He felt what he thought was the amazon stumble on his shoulder and the bird was gone . He watched as the hawk flew off with his boy..I also remember seeing a Video of a trainer at an animal park showing the crowd a parrot ..(mullocan I believe )when a Hawk swooped down and hit the parrot..it looked light the parrot exploded feathers everywhere.. The trainer fought with the hawk for possesion of the parrot and the hawk wasn't letting go..she was finally able to get the hawk to release the parrot and was able to run inside the hawk still attacking....

I have to admit it has gotten easier as I have a screened pool room attached to the house...So basically I don't have to use a crate anymore to move them into the aviary ..even then I had a contractor come in and replace the roof panels and two side panels were there perches are were replaced with metal screening(use to be plastic screen).. Just incase a bird of prey tries to take them..

I just want to reiterate.. I'm not against anyone taking there parrots outside.. I just don't do it unless they are secure and protected all the time..

 

[locito277]

Once again thanks for the feedback guys. Jenday I know they sense fear and its funny how I have no fear around a strange fullgrown dog yet the Parrot has me intimidated LOL. I know they will climb on me no problem if I were to conquer my fears. When Im sitting in the couch he will climb on my leg and observe me. Beer makes me calm down but that can be a double edged sword LOL. Im going to just offer my arm and see how it goes. Greenwing I woudnt take my birds out either Im just going to go the carrier route. I dont own where Im currently living so I wouldnt want to invest a huge amount of cash flow into the property.

 

[Alwese]

I got my B&G Kayko at the age of 20. He was a real flier and his first day he wound up in the spaghetti sauce on the stove. The second day he hit the ceiling fan. The third day he flew hard into the sliding glass door. It was then I resolved to getting him trimmed professionally so that flying would no longer be an issue. For the past decade I have kept him regularly trimmed (10 feather trim) and it is totally impossible for him to fly. You must leave him with some feathers so he does not smash his breastbone hitting the ground, but he will quickly learn he cannot fly and will no longer try. I regularly take all three of my trimmed birds out in public for the past ten years and have not had one instance where they could fly away. My worst scenerio to date is I was at the beach facing inland and a big wave came ashore frightening Clifford and he hopped off my shoulder into the surf. He got all wet and sandy but that was not terrible. Trimming removes the fear of losing them and increases the joy of owning them and sharing them with others in public. To prove to yourself he can't fly after trimming, take him to a school gym or church activity hall with a mat on the floor if you don't have a big room. We have our birds to ENJOY. Make it safe and then go out and enjoy them. Click thumbnails to enlarge.

 

[Alwese]

Here are some more pictures of my birds out in public:

 

[locito277]

Hahahahaha thats great. Beautiful Scarlet. I wish I had the guts to pick mine up like that :-( a 10 wing trim is not the regular trim?

 

[Alwese]

.....( a 10 wing trim is not the regular trim?

Normally they trim 7 feathers not ten. I insist on 10 because when they start to grow in I let a couple of them come in before I get trimmed again. When they are on your arm and they flap really hard you can tell when they are getting light if feathers are growing in. They know they still can't take off. When their wings are folded up you can't really tell they are trimmed so it's not like you are destroying their beauty or anything.