Question about going outside

[Scoimies]

Hello I'm new to the forums and already have learned quite a bit, I'm here to ask if my Amazon would fly outside. A friend of mine had past away a few years back and passed on this beautiful yellow napped Amazon to me and I know his wings had been clipped regularly but I havnt clipped them since the year I got him. We've grown a nice bond and the only times he flies, which is very rarely, is when something spooks him and he tries his hardest to fly away but it's more like a flappy glide. I know this is a sign (along with heavy breathing afterwards) that his wing muscles aren't very strong. So I'm wondering if I bring him outside if he will surprise me and fly away towards a tree.

Also I would like to know if the better option is training his wing muscles and getting a fly suit for him.

 

[Puck]

Birds are not born knowing how to fly, they are taught. If your buddy has has his wings clipped his whole life, he may not even know how to fly--but that will NOT stop his survival instincts from making him try his best if he gets really scared outside, and he might very well manage to flap his way into a tree! It is never a good idea to take any bird who is not very well recall trained outside without a harness or carrier, and it can be an even bigger disaster with birds who don't know how to fly. Flying down from the tree is much harder than flying up into when you get a rush of terrified adrenaline, and even if he wants to come down, he may find himself stuck up there because he doesn't know how to fly down and is afraid! It's not that uncommon of a situation, sadly. I would work on harness training him if you want to take him outside. Is your goal just to take him outside or to free fly him? Because there's a whole process there of teaching him to fly if he doesn't know how.

 

[Scott]

You may never know until possibly too late! Some parrots raised captive indoors will be too intimidated to fly outside while others immediately revert to instinct and escape. Depending on your location, the hazards can range from hostile raptors to horrific temperatures, outdoor cats, vehicles, etc.

Some folks perform a "light clip" preventing sustained flight, though extremely careful monitoring is necessary to prevent a terrible surprise.

Other members can better discuss flight suits; due to a raptor rich environment my parrots only see the outside through a highly protected cage or carrier to the vet.

Another alternative is the Pak-o-Bird or similar backpack styled personal carrier. No flying, but a creative way to experience the outdoors.

 

[Scoimies]

Thank you, my goal was to basically just have him outside and chill on my deck with me so he can have some outside time, I only see him fly maybe 4-6 times a year and thankfully he appears to know how to land, but honestly I would like to take him to my nearby park (come summertime since it's winter here in Pennsylvania.) He is 13 years old now so I guess I'll have to choose whether or not to train him or clip his wings but I do have the patience to train him so I may do my research and train him this winter, thank you for the reply!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

I take Amy outside whenever possible. She is 27 years old and I have been owned by her since she was 4 months old.
I always clip her,usually twice in the warm weather,and I let her feathers grow back in winter.

I agree with Mitch (Puck). They need to be "teached" on how to fly. Since Amy has been clipped from a very young age,she doesn't know HOW to fly.
Only 3 or 4 times has she made an attempt ( always from being spooked) and even when she was fully flighted,the poor girls attempt to fly was pitiful

Because she has been socialized from a very young age,she goes EVERYWHERE with me in the summer,she is very stable and doesn't spook with me ( Daddy will protect me) she just doesn't have a desire to fly or even attempt it.


Jim

 

[Scott]

Some birds have a very instinctual ability to fly. My 3 Goffin babies (now adults) were abandoned by their parents within the first week post-hatching and were hand fed. They became superb fliers without any dedicated role-modeling. Perhaps not well suited to long-distance flying as they are home-bound, but extremely nimble and never crash into objects.

They aren't as graceful as their parents. Both were wild-caught and are more efficient with fewer wing strokes to cover a unit of distance.

 

[JBassset]

I walk my birds through a local park. Here are a few things that have spooked them enough to fly off.

A diesel truck starting its engine half a block away.
A barking dog chasing a Frisbee. (More than 100' from us)
Kid on a bike.
An acorn falling out of the tree near us.
Seeing a cat stalking a squirrel.
Squirrels.
People asking me about the bird.
The wind... I think.
The Things. (These are super scary. You gotta watch out for The Things. If I only had any idea what they were.)

 

[SailBoat]

You have been receiving excellent advise in the above Posts!

Most Humans see Birds flying in their natural environment and believe that their Companion Parrots should have the same opportunity. There is also the belief that time in natural Sun light will be healthy for them. Although, there are any number of excellent studies, which present the healthy advantage of natural (unfiltered) Sun Light. There are also great dangers to having Companion Parrot's outside.

Pennsylvania, as with Michigan are 'Raper Rich Environments' (Scott), which means that the number of year around Raper pairs is above two pair per 10 square mile area. Since, different Raper species ranges overlap the number of different Rapers passing over your home could be as high as one pair per day.

Our home is used during mid-late Summer as a flight training range for Red Tail Hawks. Any given day, two Red Tail Hawk families will use our house to train their young at the art of high-speed turning prior to an attack. Over a six week period, we see more than sixteen different families training their young. Free-flying in our backyard is to say the least dangerous for any Bird, let alone a Companion Parrot.

Our DYH Amazon is fully flighted and also a Free-Range Parrot. Although there are areas around our City that as a result of the general openness of the area (large open fields) that one could Free Fly their Parrot. We believe that the much higher likelihood of the loss of our Amazon is just not worth it. With so many excellent products available today, its just not worth it!

If you are interested in your YNA regaining flight, I would recommend going to the top of the Amazon Forum and opening the Thread highlighted in light blue Titled: I Love Amazons -, Start with reading, Getting Your Amazon More Active (Page: 7) First, and than reading, Re-Fledging a Adult Amazon (Page: 4).

As stated as part of SCOTT's Post, you can, by careful and timely clipping your YNA's wing's 'Primary' feathers control the amount of lift and distances of flight.

We have a fully screened-in lower porch what we take our DYN Amazon out in during Spring, very early Summer and mid-late Fall. We also travel with our Amazon weekly, year around (he LOVES riding in the SUV).

 

[RavensGryf]

Being that most bird species are flighted beings , they do have instincts that will tell them to fly (or attempt to) given the right situation, for example, as in a panic. They generally learn to become proficient fliers by example of their parents or peers, but that's not to say they have no clue at all unless taught.

My Robin who I've had for 22 years, I bought as a juvenile who had never fledged. He was clipped, and I kept him that way (though my other birds past and present have mostly been flighted). A couple times during those years, his wings had grown out, and while he didn't have the fine tuned control, to my surprise he was able to fly high and pretty well (indoors of course). Since he has never fledged as a youngster, he is not really inclined to try to fly, and has always gotten his exercise in other ways, but I definitely wouldn't put it past him that he has full ability if he wants to.

 

[wrench13]

+1 for the Pak O Bird. Salty loves his and they are super well made ( I watched them make mine, in Brooklyn). Exepensive, but you'll never need another carry cage, and your parrot will enjoy the outdoors with zero danger. I've had a parrot fly away one me, it was heart breaking.

 

[Shine]

Another vote for Pak-o-bird! I just got mine and took Fidget out for the maiden voyage today. He loved it!

 

[AmyMyBlueFront]

Al and Salty paid a visit to me and Amy and BB this fall and Salty came in his Pak-O-Bird.. I checked it out and found it to be very well built. I would purchase one definitely if I wasn't so sure that Amy wouldn't stay put.



Jim