People in Asia Free Flight Smaller Birds (Lovebirds, Parakeets, Cockatiels & Ringnecks, mainly)....why is it more discouraged in North America?

[Harpytacines]

I've read the forums, of course, from predators to wind, but they deal with that there too.

If anything, they tend to stress the importance of blind recall, recall, startle training, etc., more than the dangers, which they also do mention, and they don't love their birds any less or more. Yet, it's successfully done all the time, and there's many videos on it.

Some even claim the smaller birds are actually less prone to being caught by predators because they are more maneuverable. I had one free flight Lovebird that I mistakenly free flighted after 10 weeks and was surprised how well she kept up with the wild birds that she tried to follow (as if she was flying all her life), fortunately, I got her back...lol.

Just curious....

 

[StormyPica]

I used to free fly my Picasso, and would love to harness fly or free fly budgies again... it really was a great experience, very good for the bird as well. I assume it's because smaller birds are easier to lose if startled, especially since many small birds are too light for even the lightest of trackers.

 

[chris-md]

Careful! You’re almost broaching a cultural question that could generate some…friction on this multicultural forum. Different countries tend to have different standards of care, and will defend them as “different ways of doing things”. North Americans are no different.

The argument goes like this:
Small birds are…smaller. If they fly off, they’re near impossible to see and hear, making recovering significantly harder compared to a macaw you can see and hear from a distance.

That alone creates a level of risk that many in North America deem unacceptable to take.

Seems reasonable minds can debate maneuverability of smaller parrots absent actual evidence. I’m of the belief that they’re more prone to predation, which lends to my strong belief they aren’t suitable candidates for free flight.

They can also be a bit more flighty than larger parrots, prone to scares. Think about it: often medium and large parrots in a home often prefer walking to flight. Smaller birds will take flight quickly. Bigger risk for fly offs.

 

[Harpytacines]

It's not meant to offend anyone, it's just what I simply observed; I supposed I can be wrong. I would imagine that one has to take into account the environment they are also flying their birds into. However, at the end of the day, there's always a risk for all; perhaps greater for smaller birds, true, but why would one discourage one group instead of educating further when they themselves enjoy it even if it's less riskier?

 

[Harpytacines]

As for the maneuverability, it turns out there is a study about Lovebirds, that they can turn their heads as fast as insects and change directions...not sure, though if other parrots have the same capability, but maybe so as they are in the same family.

How Lovebirds Maneuver Rapidly Using Super-Fast Head Saccades and Image Feature Stabilization

Diurnal flying animals such as birds depend primarily on vision to coordinate their flight path during goal-directed flight tasks. To extract the spatial structure of the surrounding environment, birds are thought to use retinal image motion (optical flow) that is primarily induced by motion of...

journals.plos.org

 

[StormyPica]

Here's my take on this:
If you have a small bird which you have recall and freeflight trained WITH A PROFESSIONAL who says your bird is ready, and you start off by flying in a large, open, relatively predator-free spot, and you have a light enough tracker to fit on said bird, I would have absolutely nothing against it.

 

[StormyPica]

Also, I have heard of free-flighted tiels and ringnecks who did quite well. A telementary tracker can fit very comfortably on that size bird.

 

[Harpytacines]

Here's my take on this:
If you have a small bird which you have recall and freeflight trained WITH A PROFESSIONAL who says your bird is ready, and you start off by flying in a large, open, relatively predator-free spot, and you have a light enough tracker to fit on said bird, I would have absolutely nothing against it.

Oh, for sure, this is taken into consideration. As for the tracker, not sure how expensive it is or what size they come from. Even though birds in the Philippines, for example, are cheaper to buy, it's not easy for the average person to afford a huge parrot, so many people actually have smaller birds. The biggest issue they raise is actually not predation there, but fly away due to lack of adequate training.

 

[Harpytacines]

Also, I have heard of free-flighted tiels and ringnecks who did quite well. A telementary tracker can fit very comfortably on that size bird.

Telemetry tracker, i will look into that. I hope it will fit or be suitable for my Lovebird (I have an Abysinnian Lovebird that's coming soon). Unfortunately, the owner wing clipped it, but because it's so hard to find, I got her anyway, so maybe I'll just take the time to desensitize her to the environment while she can't fly yet.

 

[Harpytacines]

Telemetry tracker, i will look into that. I hope it will fit or be suitable for my Lovebird (I have an Abysinnian Lovebird that's coming soon). Unfortunately, the owner wing clipped it, but because it's so hard to find, I got her anyway, so maybe I'll just take the time to desensitize her to the environment while she can't fly yet.

I had to look elsewhere for free flight communities for small bird coz it's hard to find one in North America for smaller birds. Eventually, I may just start one...starting with Indoor in large places (with a pro guiding us of course).

 

[Harpytacines]

Here's my take on this:
If you have a small bird which you have recall and freeflight trained WITH A PROFESSIONAL who says your bird is ready, and you start off by flying in a large, open, relatively predator-free spot, and you have a light enough tracker to fit on said bird, I would have absolutely nothing against it.

Curious, would you apply the same standard to a large bird?

 

[ravvlet]

There are indoor free-flight groups that meet up in gymnasiums and include smaller parrots. Might be an alternative worth considering.

 

[StormyPica]

Curious, would you apply the same standard to a large bird?

Yes, although I would get a larger GPS tracker instead of a telemetry.

 

[Harpytacines]

As for the maneuverability, it turns out there is a study about Lovebirds, that they can turn their heads as fast as insects and change directions...not sure, though if other parrots have the same capability, but maybe so as they are in the same family.

How Lovebirds Maneuver Rapidly Using Super-Fast Head Saccades and Image Feature Stabilization

Diurnal flying animals such as birds depend primarily on vision to coordinate their flight path during goal-directed flight tasks. To extract the spatial structure of the surrounding environment, birds are thought to use retinal image motion (optical flow) that is primarily induced by motion of...

journals.plos.org

The video is not clear, but a friend of mine flies his conures and cockatiel and while he tries to avoid it, there's always usually crows around...always chase them, but according to him, they are far too quick. 4 crows was chasing one Cockatiel or Conure and they got tired.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=788832332532149

 

[Rozalka]

I don't live in Asia nor America, so I can't really answer the question but I think above people already explained. I can just add another factor which decides about free flight risk - plumage. I am not sure how it works in tropical countries, but here in Europe grayish and brownish parrots are in higher risk of attacking because predators may take them as local pigeons or other familiar birds, while bright-colored birds don't look familiar and the predators may think they're dangerous (because of bright colors)

 

[Harpytacines]

Here's another video of a friend of mine flying his Conures, IRN and Cockatiels (Budgie, Quaker and Lovebird soon to follow).

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=464175289098687

P.S (The dogs are not any trouble, but as a precaution, he did mention to a few people to watch them).

 

[Harpytacines]

By the way, I have also read in a few prominent websites that Budgies, especially, aside from being small, hard to spot, will be a target for Birds of Prey, etc., are hard candidates for free flight -- anything to do with behavior?

 

[Rozalka]

By the way, I have also read in a few prominent websites that Budgies, especially, aside from being small, hard to spot, will be a target for Birds of Prey, etc., are hard candidates for free flight -- anything to do with behavior?

Australian parakeets have a habit of flying into different weird places and fly much father than other parrots - I mean they often fly into places they shouldn't

 

[StormyPica]

Australian parakeets have a habit of flying into different weird places and fly much father than other parrots - I mean they often fly into places they shouldn't

Yes, and to add on to that, budgies may fly right past you into a tree even without being spooked... just because they can, the little buggers. And they may not recall back down right away because they're enjoying the attention and the tree so much. And when they get spooked, they can fly for miles with no sense of direction.

My point is, budgies do what budgies want. If they want something, or want to do something, NOTHING can stand in their way. They're crazy-adorable, but also stubborn and persistent as heck.

 

[Harpytacines]

I see....I was wondering why some of the FF trainers who were stating they have been able to successfully FF Cockatiels, Lovebirds and GC conures were advising against Budgies, especially.

Do you think it will be the same thing for similary sized Grass-keets like bourkes and Turqs? And bigger ones like Rock Pebbler, Princess of Wales and King Parrot...they are all Aussie too...and considered parakeets..