Paisley flies like a madbird, dangerously.

[Janedeaux]

Paisley regained flight less than a month ago. Since then he has been flying around the open living room, kitchen area. I made him a hanging basket with newspaper and toys in it in front of the window that he flies to. He was flying normally, nothing crazy, just flying from one spot to the other. Then suddenly he is flying all zigzag, crazy, up down, around. I'm scared he is going to crash and break his neck. He flew from the curtain rod this morning and on his way DOWN? for some reason right into the top of a FLAT screen tv that is in the corner of the room. Why? I don't know. Then continued on his very crazy flight pattern into the kitchen. His flight pattern started to get crazy a few days ago and is now drastically worse.
I wonder if his two new feathers that are coming in on the ends could be causing this and could it cause him to injure himself till he regains balance maybe??? They are coming in on both sides but not even right at the moment. The other feathers were also not even but they weren't on the very edge of his wing either. These are the very first flight feathers on the outside edge.

 

[kiwiS]

Yikes! That could be it..have you tried trimming them? I had Kiwi fully-flighted at some point, but there were a few close call incidents with our sliding door going outside, and also when I was cooking in the kitchen..so I have trimmed them a little so she can fly a short distance, but she can't really keep any lift for an extended time. This works out great anyway because our place is really small and she doesn't have to fly very far to get anywhere.

The only thing I miss is she used to hover when she was fully-flighted. It was kinda funny, she looked like a hummingbird. Now she can't hover, because she'll slowly drift down to the ground. STill gets her places though!!

 

[khaiqha]

Birds will naturally want to accelerate when they develop their flying skills. I read a study that said a third of the time spent flying for birds in the wild is done purely for fun. As a baby my Alex slowly hovered everywhere he went. Now he zips and dives and swoops all over the place. I wouldn't be too concerned about your bird flying fast unless there's large pieces of glass he could collide with.

 

[Kalidasa]

Yup, sounds like he's learning what he needs to learn, and is enjoying himself immensely. Make sure you take him to each window & mirror and have him peck and explore the glass all around, so he learns not to fly into it. Sometimes bumps and things happen, it's all a part of learning.

 

[BoomBoom]

Agreed with Kalidasa. Introduce him to the windows and mirrors so he knows they are there. When a bird goes on panic mode though, he can lose common sense and crash into it anyway (this happened with my bird once despite being familiar with the window). So the best thing to do is when he is out and about just make sure you draw the blinds (doesn't have to be closed all the way) or have sheer curtains. I like to put tall plants on the window sill. It looks pretty, good for the plant and my bird would not think to crash into it.

I am glad you're keeping your bird flighted! It's challenging at first but it is definitely something you get used to and enjoy. Good luck!

 

[Janedeaux]

Thanks guys!

I'm glad to know its normal and that he should not crash too bad. I was worried at any moment he was going to smash his little self into something. He's kinda small for a Sun I think.

Well, I dont have too many uncovered windows, Just a small space that isn't covered by the curtain in the kitchen.

Well, I'm going to let him at it then and see what he learns! Should be fun.

 

[Allee]

I don't have a conure but my Quakers are fully flighted. My male was five and had never flown when we got him. He looked like a crazed mosquito the first few times he soloed. We watched him very closely and made sure we were there if he needed us. Now he flies loops and hovers. He flies more and more now that he's gained a little confidence and no dangerous crashes so far.

 

[KeroRocks]

My Quaker is a champion flyer. She's two. My house is a square. Each room has a door to the next room until you get back to the first room. Dori does laps around the house. She always lands either back on her cage or on the back of my recliner. She doesn't usually land anywhere else in the house.

My Sun is just now starting to grow his flights in. I can't believe it's been so long. I can't wait for him to be able to fly.

My Red Front Macaw, Yara, flies like a hummingbird. It's amazing to watch. She can stop in midair and change direction and just hover in place. It's wild that such a large bird can fly in my small house and not crash into anything.

Sam, my CAG is fully flighted but he tends to fly into things. Poor guy. My house just isn't big enough for him to get going I think. That and he's a big boy.