I’m curious about taking the bird outside

[LaurieLJT]

Hi. I have a fancy conure ( black top ). I bought him at petsmart store at 7 mths old at 2023. I love him ! His name is bandit. His hatch day is day after Christmas. He will be 2 yrs old this coming Christmas. He get lots of free time out of his cage. Only in the cage when I am not around or bedtime. he follows me when I leave the room. He stayed on my shoulder or top of my head, sometimes on household furniture . I’m wondering if I go outside of my house , will he stayed with me or flyway ? I’m curious Does anybody have experience with conure staying with owner while being outside ? Thanks for your time

 

[Mango the Sun Conure]

Hi. I have a fancy conure ( black top ). I bought him at petsmart store at 7 mths old at 2023. I love him ! His name is bandit. His hatch day is day after Christmas. He will be 2 yrs old this coming Christmas. He get lots of free time out of his cage. Only in the cage when I am not around or bedtime. he follows me when I leave the room. He stayed on my shoulder or top of my head, sometimes on household furniture . I’m wondering if I go outside of my house , will he stayed with me or flyway ? I’m curious Does anybody have experience with conure staying with owner while being outside ? Thanks for your time

I would recommend harness training your bird if you would like to take him outside. I would not risk just taking him out on your shoulder. If he were to get spooked by a loud noise, or by anything really.. they instincts would be to fly. When I got my sun conure his wings were clipped but even then I didn’t take him outside without his harness. Harness training has been a loooonnnggg journey it is well worth it. and even though my conure 99% of the time when we are outside usually stays on my shoulders I never go outside with out his harness. There are threads about free flight training where you rely on recall. I personally never tried this with my conure just because I was nervous but I’m sure other people on this forum has successfully done this. Hope this helps
P.s Bandit is so cute!

 

[LaurieLJT]

I would recommend harness training your bird if you would like to take him outside. I would not risk just taking him out on your shoulder. If he were to get spooked by a loud noise, or by anything really.. they instincts would be to fly. When I got my sun conure his wings were clipped but even then I didn’t take him outside without his harness. Harness training has been a loooonnnggg journey it is well worth it. and even though my conure 99% of the time when we are outside usually stays on my shoulders I never go outside with out his harness. There are threads about free flight training where you rely on recall. I personally never tried this with my conure just because I was nervous but I’m sure other people on this forum has successfully done this. Hope this helps
P.s Bandit is so cute!

Thanks so much. Okay. I was thinking of harness thing Do u have good recommendations like where can I find a good trustworthy harness especially made for conures. Thanks again

 

[kme3388]

Both of my conures are flight trained (indoors). I myself have thought about bringing them outside. They are so fast, and aren’t like my larger parrot that I know I can catch. I myself haven’t brought them outside without a harness, or in their travel carriers. If I knew of an outdoor place that had a net or something I could train with them in first I’d be a lot more comfortable. Unfortunately I’m an over protective parront, and don’t trust them to not take off if they get spooked. Which honestly any loud noise will spook them.

 

[LaurieLJT]

Both of my conures are flight trained (indoors). I myself have thought about bringing them outside. They are so fast, and aren’t like my larger parrot that I know I can catch. I myself haven’t brought them outside without a harness, or in their travel carriers. If I knew of an outdoor place that had a net or something I could train with them in first I’d be a lot more comfortable. Unfortunately I’m an over protective parront, and don’t trust them to not take off if they get spooked. Which honestly any loud noise will spook them.

Yeah. I agreed the conure will probably get spooked by the outside noise and take off. I’m little worrywart.

 

[wrench13]

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT take your parrot outside without either being in a travel cage or in a harness. Tell you a painful story. My first parrot decades and decades ago was my buddy. We went everywhere together - food shopping, laundramat, even some bars. Never showed any fear or tendency to fly. One day walking home, a truck hit its air brakes near us and poof off he went and never to be seen again. Months and months of searching, painful months, gave me a hard lesson.

PLEASE take the lesson learned so you dont have to experience the pain. Even a clipped parrot is capable of flying away, if they are frightened. The flight response shoots enough adrenaline into their blood stream so even then they can escape.

 

[LaurieLJT]

ABSOLUTELY DO NOT take your parrot outside without either being in a travel cage or in a harness. Tell you a painful story. My first parrot decades and decades ago was my buddy. We went everywhere together - food shopping, laundramat, even some bars. Never showed any fear or tendency to fly. One day walking home, a truck hit its air brakes near us and poof off he went and never to be seen again. Months and months of searching, painful months, gave me a hard lesson.

PLEASE take the lesson learned so you dont have to experience the pain. Even a clipped parrot is capable of flying away, if they are frightened. The flight response shoots enough adrenaline into their blood stream so even then they can escape.

Thank you so much for sharing. I appreciated your reply. I would never go outside without it any travel cage or harness.

 

[Inger]

Thanks so much. Okay. I was thinking of harness thing Do u have good recommendations like where can I find a good trustworthy harness especially made for conures. Thanks again

Aviator brand harnesses seem to be the favorite. I have a Leathers for Feathers and also a Flight Suit for Bumble but she chews on them and it wouldn't be difficult to chew through them IMO so we don't go outside unless she's in her pak-o-bird.

 

[GoldenDaysAz]

What a cutie! I think we’d all agree that it’s not worth the risk to be unprepared. I have countless stories of awesome pet fully flighted parrots (of mine and others I know) where they were startled by some unexpected noise and took off. Some came back some didn’t, depending on the training. In the “fight or flight” response… they will inevitably always take flight. We lived on the island of Oahu for six years and I can’t tell you how many people would contact me about a bird they would find. Being on an island it was easier to find the owner. On the mainland that can be more difficult. I would also recommend getting your feather friend micro chipped. Just another precaution. We have also tried many of the harnesses out there and have found the “Aviator” to work the best. If you decide to do that, be sure to watch the video on the training. It takes time and patience. I wish you the best! Lou

 

[Botsari]

Yeah, don't do it. There are so many stories about people losing their birds this way. If the bird is not used to being outside their first response might be to freak out a bit, and before you can snap your fingers they are too far away to know how to get back. And typically a lot of them are killed in the first few hours. Its classic. It's cliche. There was one youtuber I followed for several years in LA with a female CAG that was so sweet and hand tamed, and the guy obvious loved her so much. He had hundreds of videos with her. He had a big outdoor aviary for her to spend some time in during the day that he built for her on the shaded patio in his back yard, and since she was so calm and bonded to him he would just open the door and go inside to hang with her. But one day she wasn't looking when he opened the door and she got startled for a second, and "voom", up and out of the cage in a panic, never to be seen again, even though he canvased the neighborhood for days. I would also be nervous of hawks for the people that free fly their birds like on the Youtube channel "bird Tricks", but recenlty I realized they also I think have gps trackers on them for the worst case scenario. But even in the best case scenario it isn't something you just try out cold. Those people start out training flight commands in a large screend-in backyard aviary.

My first 15 or 20 years of parrot ownership I was careful, but I don't recall worrying too much. But stories like the one above, and many others, and now I'm a bit paranoid about it. My birds are out most of the day. But when the sliding glass door to the "bird room" is open I make sure the front door is locked. I have vision of a friend opening the door randomly, which in itself might freak out the birds, and one of them shooting out in a panic.

 

[seniorc]

I would recommend harness training your bird if you would like to take him outside. I would not risk just taking him out on your shoulder. If he were to get spooked by a loud noise, or by anything really.. they instincts would be to fly. When I got my sun conure his wings were clipped but even then I didn’t take him outside without his harness. Harness training has been a loooonnnggg journey it is well worth it. and even though my conure 99% of the time when we are outside usually stays on my shoulders I never go outside with out his harness. There are threads about free flight training where you rely on recall. I personally never tried this with my conure just because I was nervous but I’m sure other people on this forum has successfully done this. Hope this helps
P.s Bandit is so cute!

I've had my African grey 33yrs and I would not risk it. He's out of his cage every day and a very friendly close bird. He only has to fly away once. So no I would never ever risk it.

 

[GoldenDaysAz]

OMGosh… @Botsari … I cannot believe this scenario just happened to us… walking into the house from the outdoor aviary and our neighbor started up his diesel truck. Couldn’t have even planned this post for today!. I didn’t waste the opportunity to videotape it and I will post to YouTube and share the link with you here soon.
Fortunately, we got her back, but it required a ladder. The most terrifying thing is, it is 110° here in Phoenix right now and she wouldn’t have lasted even 1/2 hour on a tile roof Our female golden conure Daisy talks and she said “thank you” in the middle of her panting all the way home.

 

[GoldenDaysAz]

just finished the video. Here’s the link. Think I’ll start a new thread with this too…

 

[LaurieLJT]

OMGosh… @Botsari … I cannot believe this scenario just happened to us… walking into the house from the outdoor aviary and our neighbor started up his diesel truck. Couldn’t have even planned this post for today!. I didn’t waste the opportunity to videotape it and I will post a YouTube and share the link with you here soon.
Fortunately, we got her back, but it required a ladder. The most terrifying thing is, it is 110° here in Phoenix right now and she wouldn’t have lasted even 1/2 hour on a tile roof Our female golden conure Daisy talks and she said “thank you” in the middle of her panting all the way home.

Awwww. Thank you so much for sharing.

 

[LaurieLJT]

Yeah, don't do it. There are so many stories about people losing their birds this way. If the bird is not used to being outside their first response might be to freak out a bit, and before you can snap your fingers they are too far away to know how to get back. And typically a lot of them are killed in the first few hours. Its classic. It's cliche. There was one youtuber I followed for several years in LA with a female CAG that was so sweet and hand tamed, and the guy obvious loved her so much. He had hundreds of videos with her. He had a big outdoor aviary for her to spend some time in during the day that he built for her on the shaded patio in his back yard, and since she was so calm and bonded to him he would just open the door and go inside to hang with her. But one day she wasn't looking when he opened the door and she got startled for a second, and "voom", up and out of the cage in a panic, never to be seen again, even though he canvased the neighborhood for days. I would also be nervous of hawks for the people that free fly their birds like on the Youtube channel "bird Tricks", but recenlty I realized they also I think have gps trackers on them for the worst case scenario. But even in the best case scenario it isn't something you just try out cold. Those people start out training flight commands in a large screend-in backyard aviary.

My first 15 or 20 years of parrot ownership I was careful, but I don't recall worrying too much. But stories like the one above, and many others, and now I'm a bit paranoid about it. My birds are out most of the day. But when the sliding glass door to the "bird room" is open I make sure the front door is locked. I have vision of a friend opening the door randomly, which in itself might freak out the birds, and one of them shooting out in a panic.

Thanks so much for sharing. Yeah. I’m gonna decide not to taking the bird outside.

 

[LaurieLJT]

What a cutie! I think we’d all agree that it’s not worth the risk to be unprepared. I have countless stories of awesome pet fully flighted parrots (of mine and others I know) where they were startled by some unexpected noise and took off. Some came back some didn’t, depending on the training. In the “fight or flight” response… they will inevitably always take flight. We lived on the island of Oahu for six years and I can’t tell you how many people would contact me about a bird they would find. Being on an island it was easier to find the owner. On the mainland that can be more difficult. I would also recommend getting your feather friend micro chipped. Just another precaution. We have also tried many of the harnesses out there and have found the “Aviator” to work the best. If you decide to do that, be sure to watch the video on the training. It takes time and patience. I wish you the best! Lou

Thanks so much. Very helpful. I’m decided I won’t take the birdie outside. I’m too nervous about it.

 

[LaurieLJT]

just finished the video. Here’s the link. Think I’ll start a new thread with this too…

Daisy is so cute !

 

[GoldenDaysAz]

Daisy is so cute !

Thanks! My hubby is pretty attached and I think he’s the only one traumatized from that event yesterday

 

[LaurieLJT]

Thanks! My hubby is pretty attached and I think he’s the only one traumatized from that event yesterday

Awwww. . But glad you have your bird back !!!

 

[SammyAndyAlex]

I would strongly advise against ever taking ANY parrot outside without a harness if they are not inside a cage. It is highly irresponsible and reckless to do so.

It only takes ONE time for you to lose them either temporarily or permanently. They might fly off, fly into oncoming traffic or into a predators mouth (such a dog on a walk or a cat).

Whenever I see an unharnessed parrot (not inside a cage) I get so angry.

There is SO MUCH to lose and little to nothing to gain by not using a harness. I could never imagine taking that risk. And everyone who is willing to take the risk, well, I think it says very much about them and how much (or rather little) they value the life and well being of their parrot(s).... (I know this might be an unpopular opinion/take on the subject).

(I understand that free flight is a bit of a different thing, but my stance remains the same)

To me it's the same as driving without a seat belt because the risk of being in a car crash is "relatively low"... But IF you get unlucky, you are pretty much f****d. And in that case YOU'RE the one responsible for your own suffering, the poor parrot(s) did not make the choice to be exposed to unnecessary dangers