Pros & Cons on clipping wings?

[Ally]

I feel like theres some controversy for whether or not you should clip your birds wings...

What are the pros and cons of clipping wings?

 

[Hawk]

That's all in the eye's of the beholder. My Opinion is that it is in the best interest to clip a bird for these reasons. One: if you take a bird outside, it could become startled from wind blowing leaves, or what have you and attempt to fly, once air borne, the could fly for quite a ways. Second: In the house a bird when startled will fly towards a window, the impact could kill your bird, or have neck broken or injured and or get a head injury/ beak injury. A clipped bird is generally more reliant on you, thus can tighten the bond between you.
I'm not a fan of bird harnesses as I have seen birds injured from that, but many use them and have had success. Some birds plain will not tolerate them. I had a harrier hawk die last summer I let it have a fly around the yard and it flew after a sparrow thru the pines and somehow caught itself on a branch and broke it's neck. Very sad day that was. But sometimes a bird will do the unexpected when you least expect it.

 

[EAI]

Your'e right. Wing clipping is actually one of the, if not, MOST controversial topics. Non-bird owners would most probably call it inhumane or cruelty.

I can only think of a few right now but some pros are that you lessen the chance of your bird flying away! But with a proper trim, they can still glide to the floor instead of just crashing. And that taming is somewhat more easier because they now need to depend on you for things, which creates a stronger bond
The only cons I can think of right now is that they can fly into windows, mirrors or other dangerous things and they can't fly away if needed (from a dog or a cat for example).


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Update: I totally agree with Hawk that it depends on the owner. Gizmo is the social butterfly, and a recent escaper so I'm choosing to keep his wings clipped a few weeks after they grow back. I let my Keets wing's grow out because they aren't tamed so it gives them that confidence and security knowing they can fly away.

 

[Birdsfourever]

I am waiting for appolos wing to grow back so she can fly again. I am against it clipping. If you train your bird to fly strait and you can take it to a closed in large room it will be more safe. Dont ever bring your bird outside if the wings are grown. Get a flight harness. Birds were built for fly and it gives them great exercise. If the bird does not trust you whatsoever then clip at the beginning. Apolo got tamed in 2 days so clipping her wings would have been unnecessary but they were clipped when I got her.

BFE

 

[EAI]

Birds were built for fly and it gives them great exercise.

Good thing you brought that up, some birds are more prone to getting liver diseases like RB2 so letting them fly is a good way to prevent that through exercise.

 

[Anansi]

Let me start with a gentle reminder, everyone. As mentioned, this is a highly controversial topic and passions tend to run high during discussions... often resulting in the closure of the thread. While healthy discussion and the expression of differing opinions and points of view are always encouraged here, please keep the tone civil. Insults or unnecessarily harsh responses can and will result in the immediate closure of this thread. Please endeavor not to be that guy or gal who makes it necessary for us to do so, okay?

That said, my preference is to keep my birds fully flighted. Bixby greatly enjoys flying. Maya still only flies when startled, but she does fly well. I do, however, recognize that it is a personal choice and that there are instances where a clip may be necessary. (Such as a bird who will routinely dive bomb the people in the house. Sometimes there are safety concerns.)

Of course, if one is to keep his/her bird flighted, flight recall is very important. As is flight training and familiarizing your fid with its surroundings. My ekkies, even when startled, know the twists and turns of my house well enough that they don't crash into the walls.

Here is a link to a clipped or flighted thread that I thought very informative:
http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectus/35619-question-those-don-t-clip-everyone-else-can-chime-too-2.html

And here is a link to what I consider the definitive video for indoor flying: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzyZGdMp9kM&feature=youtube_gdata_player"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzyZGdMp9kM&feature=youtube_gdata_player[/ame]

Hope this all helps with your decision.

 

[Jayyj]

Alice was clipped, badly, when I brought her home. She's a very timid, easily stressed bird. When clipped, she would take off in a panic then crash back to earth, and then huddle panting with fear on the floor waiting for me to rescue her. Now when something scares her she takes off and does a quick risk assessment, then flies either to my shoulder or to the top of her cage. No panting, a quick bit of honking and crest popping to show what a brave girl she is (Alice: "There was a hawk outside the window! And it swooped down to get me! It was inches away!" Me: "What, you mean that thrush? That was just sitting there?" Alice: "No, it was definitely a hawk, I saw its talons, honest!") then she's straight back to whatever she was doing. Sometimes she'll just take off, have a look round and drop straight back down again. The point is, in her case, being flighted gives her a confidence and sense of security that she didn't have when clipped, so flighted is how she will stay.

Still, everyone's circumstances are different, and every bird is different: the reality is, you do what is going to give your bird the best quality of life in the given environment.

 

[labell]

My biggest peeve with clipping is when it is done to babies before they have truly learned to fly and land, not one unsteady flight across the room but really skilled. Or when a bird is given such a hard clip that they go to the ground like a stone.

Brady YNA has become a different bird in the most wonderful way since most of her flights have come back in from a truly horrible clip. She has always been friendly to everyone and especially fond of me but her confidence, her playing, even her talking and laughing and enjoying life in general has increased so much. I can't even begin to explain what absolute joy it gives me to watch her attack a toy and mock attack the air and finger wrestle with me all the while laughing her head off! It does leave me in somewhat of a dilemma though because last year when the weather was warm she loved coming outside with me and sitting in the sun for a little while everyday. I had no concerns about a wind lifting her because she literally could get no lift and was over weight because of her old diet and no exercise. Now don't get me wrong I would never give her a hard clip but I have wondered what I will do if I can't get her to take to a harness if I should do a light clip maybe but to me that can be more dangerous outside. I also am now worried about a harness, reading stories of birds being snatched from their owners shoulders we have tons of hawks and other birds of prey around here so that now scares the tar out of me! Just have not decided, after everything I really don't want to take flight from her again though.

The eclectus darlings are fully flighted and always will be, eclectus are a species I feel do much better not clipped if someone can help it. It does come down to lifestyle and personal choice and a person must be aware and take responsibility for the out come no matter what route they choose. The eclectus go out with me supervised every second in a small travel cage to get their daily natural sunlight when the weather is nice and I suppose that could be an option for Brady as well though we did get used to just sitting together soaking up the sun. I have some time to decide as I am looking at a world of white right now!

 

[Mango121913]

I couldn't even imagine taking flight away from a bird. The look on Mango's face and joy he gets when he does his rounds through the house, is priceless. I feel , personally, disabling an animal, (for what we think is safer) isn't right. Even declawing a cat.
Training is the answer. Recall is key. People have had birds break their necks, legs and wings both clipped and not. IMHO, Fully flighted, are happy, healthy loving birds. Always show your bird windows, by letting them touch and see they are not penetrable. I do this with Mango every new house he visits. It works.

 

[henpecked]

I feel like theres some controversy for whether or not you should clip your birds wings...

What are the pros and cons of clipping wings?

Welcome to the forum. i'd suggest using the forum search and researching this topic. (unless you're a troll).

 

[thekarens]

If you use a good harness outside and use it properly your bird is unlikely to get hurt by it. Clipping wings will not prevent your bird from flying off unless the wings are butchered. With a good clip all they will need is a little breeze and off they can go.

 

[4dugnlee]

My opinion is if it is for the well being of the bird or the humans, then clip. I would not, however, take them outside with clipped wings without a harness/flight suit...just my opinion...

 

[gracebowen]

My parakeet Ace was purchased clipped. I find it humorous that most sites say clip so they can't fly into ceiling fans and such. Even clipped Ace flies pretty good. He flew right between the blades of the turned off ceiling fan the last time he was out. He flew into the wall once too but didn't hurt himself.. He should be tame enough so that when he moults I can let him be fully flighted. I can see both sides but like I said my clipped parakeet can still fly some. 20 to 30 feet over and 10 feet up.

 

[Hawk]

My biggest peeve with clipping is when it is done to babies before they have truly learned to fly and land, not one unsteady flight across the room but really skilled. Or when a bird is given such a hard clip that they go to the ground like a stone.

Brady YNA has become a different bird in the most wonderful way since most of her flights have come back in from a truly horrible clip. She has always been friendly to everyone and especially fond of me but her confidence, her playing, even her talking and laughing and enjoying life in general has increased so much. I can't even begin to explain what absolute joy it gives me to watch her attack a toy and mock attack the air and finger wrestle with me all the while laughing her head off! It does leave me in somewhat of a dilemma though because last year when the weather was warm she loved coming outside with me and sitting in the sun for a little while everyday. I had no concerns about a wind lifting her because she literally could get no lift and was over weight because of her old diet and no exercise. Now don't get me wrong I would never give her a hard clip but I have wondered what I will do if I can't get her to take to a harness if I should do a light clip maybe but to me that can be more dangerous outside. I also am now worried about a harness, reading stories of birds being snatched from their owners shoulders we have tons of hawks and other birds of prey around here so that now scares the tar out of me! Just have not decided, after everything I really don't want to take flight from her again though.

The eclectus darlings are fully flighted and always will be, eclectus are a species I feel do much better not clipped if someone can help it. It does come down to lifestyle and personal choice and a person must be aware and take responsibility for the out come no matter what route they choose. The eclectus go out with me supervised every second in a small travel cage to get their daily natural sunlight when the weather is nice and I suppose that could be an option for Brady as well though we did get used to just sitting together soaking up the sun. I have some time to decide as I am looking at a world of white right now!

Hi Labell, I agree, babies should not be clipped. My Grey I had since he was just a wee little thing. Before I brought him home, the pet store clipped his wings without asking me how I felt about it. Was a bit upsetting. Now at 2 years old, he has grown them out and enjoys a good fly. He flies around the yard and comes right back. Though one time he flew across the road
(which our road has very little traffic) and jus so happens that a ups truck was driving by, narrowly missed it...My heart shot out of my chest. So it is a bit of a concern for his safety. I clipped them slightly, though he can still fly, just not as far and can safely glide down. The rest of my birds are unclipped. The beauty of their wings is just not worth clipping. Poppie my BFA likes to fly from her cage to me in living room and land on my arm. She can cut corners very well and doesn't' have a problem. Though 3 weeks ago first time ever in 6 1/2 years I had her, she flew straight into the window. It stunned her good as she shook her head and was dazed. Something startled her. She checked out fine, scared me as she was very quiet and not herself that evening. But my wife and I are in a debate as to whether we should clip her wings, neither of us want to, but remembering how Jackie our harrier hawk took a wrong turn and broke it's neck in a collision into a pine tree. My wife and I could only comfort it for a few moments with tear in our eyes. So truthfully, I'm a bit torn on this topic.

 

[Hawk]

Let me start with a gentle reminder, everyone. As mentioned, this is a highly controversial topic and passions tend to run high during discussions... often resulting in the closure of the thread. While healthy discussion and the expression of differing opinions and points of view are always encouraged here, please keep the tone civil. Insults or unnecessarily harsh responses can and will result in the immediate closure of this thread. Please endeavor not to be that guy or gal who makes it necessary for us to do so, okay?

That said, my preference is to keep my birds fully flighted. Bixby greatly enjoys flying. Maya still only flies when startled, but she does fly well. I do, however, recognize that it is a personal choice and that there are instances where a clip may be necessary. (Such as a bird who will routinely dive bomb the people in the house. Sometimes there are safety concerns.)

Of course, if one is to keep his/her bird flighted, flight recall is very important. As is flight training and familiarizing your fid with its surroundings. My ekkies, even when startled, know the twists and turns of my house well enough that they don't crash into the walls.

Here is a link to a clipped or flighted thread that I thought very informative:
http://www.parrotforums.com/eclectu...don-t-clip-everyone-else-can-chime-too-2.html

And here is a link to what I consider the definitive video for indoor flying: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzyZGdMp9kM&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Hope this all helps with your decision.

Great video.....Flight recall is my issue right now, and need to spend more time with Poppie as she's the one that likes to fly as well as My grey. My other Amazon was a recent rescue and they clipped her wings and treated her quite badly. Made a mess of her, so it's going to take some patience with her. My Senni will fly very short distances then climbs down, he prefers to walk all over the place. I've been torn on the issue with clipped wings, as I love the beauty of an unclipped bird, however losing Jackie, My harrier Hawk to an unexpected turn in her flight training to catch her own food turned fatal. She took a wrong turn at high speeds and crashed into the pine trees, breaking her neck. Was awful and sad, You feel so helpless to do anything. So That's the part I can't shake, the fear of that happening again to one of my parrots. Poppie gave me a scare a couple weeks back or so, she flew right into the window and lay on her side afterwards. She has been quite good at flying around the house and lands sometimes clumsily. But she checked out fine by the Vet. 6 1/2 years and first time she's done that.
So you can see my concerns here and being torn on clipping. I don't want to, but for the sake of safety I was considering it. But I'm open to better training techniques where I may be missing something.

 

[Anansi]

Great video.....Flight recall is my issue right now, and need to spend more time with Poppie as she's the one that likes to fly as well as My grey. My other Amazon was a recent rescue and they clipped her wings and treated her quite badly. Made a mess of her, so it's going to take some patience with her. My Senni will fly very short distances then climbs down, he prefers to walk all over the place. I've been torn on the issue with clipped wings, as I love the beauty of an unclipped bird, however losing Jackie, My harrier Hawk to an unexpected turn in her flight training to catch her own food turned fatal. She took a wrong turn at high speeds and crashed into the pine trees, breaking her neck. Was awful and sad, You feel so helpless to do anything. So That's the part I can't shake, the fear of that happening again to one of my parrots. Poppie gave me a scare a couple weeks back or so, she flew right into the window and lay on her side afterwards. She has been quite good at flying around the house and lands sometimes clumsily. But she checked out fine by the Vet. 6 1/2 years and first time she's done that.
So you can see my concerns here and being torn on clipping. I don't want to, but for the sake of safety I was considering it. But I'm open to better training techniques where I may be missing something.

Thanks, Hawk. I remember how that video made my jaw drop when I first saw it, so I share it every once in a while. It was instrumental in making my own decision about clipping.

I am so deeply sorry for the loss of your harrier hawk. I can only imagine the heart stopping shock of such sudden grief. A dear friend of mine, also on this forum, lost one of her birds in a similar fashion. Though her situation happened indoors with one of her parrots. That tragic incident understandably led to her deciding to clip the rest of her parrots. Heck, when she told me that story it made me seriously consider clipping Bixby! (He was just a baby at the time, newly weaned and fledged. Almost a year before I got Maya.)

In the end, however, I opted to keep him flighted. Not out of some unrealistic notion that I'm some kind of bird whisperer whose superior training could prevent any such thing from occurring. Not at all. I was actually very honest with myself. Could it happen to my birds? Of course it could! But in this way I don't see the decision as being much different from how I approach things with my children.

When my eldest son told me he wanted to go and join kids soccer, I knew he might get hurt. As he gets older (he turns 7 next month) the risk to him playing these sports increases. Concussions, broken arms, legs and ribs. I've seen these injuries on the soccer field many times. I've suffered some rough injuries myself in different sports. But I can't keep him in a bubble. If it's something that he really wants to do, all that I can do, as his father, is to prepare him the best that I can. Do my best to make sure that he is as well-equipped as possible, thus lowering the possibility of his harming himself on the field. Or out in life in general. There's some measure of risk every time you take your children outside of the protective cocoon of your home. So you do everything that you can to ameliorate that risk, and then walk outside.

Granted, everyone's idea of "acceptable risk" is different. For me, I allow my fids flighted run of the house... but I balk at outdoor free-flight. Others speak of the joy such free flight brings to their fids, and I watch in wonder at members' videos like lebachu, for instance, whose birds get so much obvious joy out of flying free outside. But I fear for the safety of my ekkies should I ever attempt that because of all of the hawks in my area. Many say to just keep an eye out, but for me it's just not a risk I could abide right now. You know?

So basically, I think it all comes down to what your level of acceptable risk is. We all make such decisions for our children each day. I choose to approach such decisions for my fids in much the same way.

Oh! And as for your work on flight recall, Hawk, what I did was to work intensively on target, flight and recall training in one of the bedrooms of my house. It limited both where they could go and the potential distractions around them as we worked. Bixby didn't get to fly through the rest of my house until he was reliably recall-trained from a variety of angles. Higher elevation to lower. Lower to higher. Awkward angles. The works. Only then did we make the transition to the greater space of the rest of my home. (Maya's recall is pretty much 100% as well... it's just the flight part that still needs work! Hahaha!)

 

[JerseyWendy]

Stephen, that link you provided is simply PHENOMENAL!!! It's now bookmarked. I think it will come in handy MANY times from now on.

 

[Anansi]

Glad you liked it, Wendy! Out of curiosity, to which link are you referring? The video, or the thread?

 

[JerseyWendy]

The thread! LOVED the video, too. FWIW, I actually bookmarked >this< thread, too due to the AWESOME content.

 

[Scott]

The video is indeed spectacular!

My preference is to not clip wings; the basis for this thought is that birds are inherently creatures of flight. That said, I acknowledge the risks of injury and escape. To date, I've had one TAG break a leg, (pinned and completely healed) and thankfully no fatalities. Most importantly, no escapes from the home as I am extremely diligent about open windows and doors. No ceiling fans except in bedrooms.

Interestingly, all of my parrots that choose to fly (mostly the Goffins) are extremely nimble and proficient.