My Eclectus doesnt fly

[nfarrar]

I just adopted a 3 year old Eclectus Parrot female from a friend. She and the parrot didnt get along. She told me that she is to big to fly. I have been reading around online and fould nothing about this. Can or should she be flying?

She also used to talk. In the last month stopped. The friend I got her from thinks its something she did. Any clues? Any help or suggections would be welcome by Scarlett(I know... What an original name for a female eclectus. I didnt name her.) and I.

Thx,

Nick

 

[jew1187]

... An Eclectus is a bird designed to fly. And they can range between some odd 330 to 550 grams. The size of the bird should not really be the problem as to why she can't fly. Just out of curiosity, are her wings clipped? That would make a huge difference.

 

[nfarrar]

I asked and was told no. Is there a way that I can check? Sorry, Im a novice.

 

[Chris Winkler]

Does she try to fly and drop to the floor? If her wings are clipped the outer 5 -7 feathers are cut about mid length. Like in the pic here.

Ideally only the outer 5 should be clipped so they don't drop like a bomb when they attempt to fly

 

[nfarrar]

Thank you! I will try to check. She doesnt really want to let me right now. I will try again when she warns up to me more.

Nick

 

[jew1187]

This most likely is the case. You should be able to look at the bird and tell without spreading her wing.


http://mosquitosoftware.com/Eclectus.jpg

The above is a picture of a male without clipped wings. See that his wings cover his entire back and go past the length of his body.

http://pets.webshots.com/photo/2180760390087469246KPSqhP

That is a picture of an Eclectus with his wings clipped. They are starting to grow back in as you might be able to tell, but they are not full and covering the entire body.

Like Chris said, if she is trying to fly and just kind of flops to the floor ungracefully, she is probably clipped. If that is not the case and her wings aren't clipped, she may have a serious problem and you will need to take her to an Avian Vet for a thorough check up.

 

[Pedro]

Nick, an overweight eclectus can & does have trouble flying. My concern would be the fact she has stopped talking in the last month. Some reasons for that is illness also a sign of her not flying.

She is a matured hen & i wonder if she could be about to lay. A check up at the Vets would be a good idea just incase she has something going on there with her health.

 

[nfarrar]

Thx for the advice! She sit doesnt want to let me look extend her wings. I will take her to the vet next week. I know she was seen by a spe******t in Jackson, MS in the last few weeks. They had no health concerns. Just to be safe....


Thx again,

Nick

 

[Rani]

Hello,

My female Ekkie(Rani) is about 15 months old. She has never Flown. When i got her she was about 11 months old and her wings were clipped. I do see that her wings are starting to grow. When you get used to holding her try to hold her just a little away from her cage and see if she tries to jump to the cage. Rani does that a lot. I can stand about a arms length away from her cage and she tries to jump onto the cage. Also there are times when she will sit on the top of her cage and flap her wings as if she is planning a huge flight. Give her some time to warm up to the new house and the new people. Make sure she has fresh fruits and veggies to eat.

Rani is a picky eater and i go crazy coming up with recipes for her. These are a few things she eats.
1.fruits (grapes, kiwi and pomegranates are her favorite)
2. brown rice with bracolli,spinach,carrots,baby corn and some red chillies
3. brown rice with pumpkin seeds, pumpkin and sweet potatoes sprinkled with cinnamon
4.Birdie bread( i made it from jiffy corn muffin mix with loads of veggies and dry furits added to it)
5. Millets
6.Pellets
I am still looking for ideas when it comes to making different things for her

Rani took a while to get used to with the family and the house. When we got our conure he was chillin and happy go luck since day 1. With Rani i saw that she does like to observe a lot and take time to warm up to people.

Rani does not talk at all but she does make weird noises and whistling sounds all day long. I feel she is happy when she is making noise LOL

Please reach out to us if you need anything.Ofcourse i am a new Ekkie owner but will try to help. There are others in the forum with Ekkies as well.

Thanks
chrisi

 

[Aussie Ben]

Great advice above. I particularly agree with pedro, weight definitely does affect flight capabilities. My tiel (a very good flyer) became overweight and lost her ability to fly until she lost the weight. Once she shed the pounds all was good . Also she had notable difficulty in flying when she had eggs on the way.

 

[jew1187]

You know, I am no parrot expert, and definitely would have never taken in to consideration that carrying eggs would have made a difference. That is awesome to know. As far as the bird being overweight, if that turns out to be the case, do you know what she was feeding him?

 

[Pedro]

It's possible she was fed an unhealthy diet. Like alot of seed, that really is not a good option for an Eclectus. It would also depend on how much time out of the cage the bird got to exercise. Some even prefer to just climb or walk especially when the area is to small for them to fly comfortably.

It also amazes me at some of the foods these birds from the rain forests are fed in captivity. I feed lots of fresh fruit & veg, sprouts, very small amount of pellets & dry seeds. Eclectus should be fed a maintenance diet unless they are breeding pairs. I notice this is not the case & single birds are fed so well they are in breeding condition all year.

 

[Ozzy]

Ozzy, my BF Amazon, also does not fly. He was four/five when I got him and had never had his wings clipped but was also never given the opportunity to fly (kept caged constantly). He had no muscle in his chest and was underweight. Ive worked on his diet and make him flap his wings and sort of encourage him to fly over my bed (so if he crashes its soft). He is slowly learning but still is not able to fly.

I would ask your friend if he has ever flown, if he has it could just be a weight issue. Good luck!