Savannah Outside - I don't think she can fly :(

[Blancaej]

So I took Savannah outside with me today. I was ok with doing it because she is clipped but I also think she is unable to fly. I've notice when she started getting comfortable with us and began stretching out her wings on top of her cage that she never fully extends her left wing. Also, when she fell off her cage the other day (I was in the other room) she was right next to the cage on the floor when I came in (I came in just when she landed). I figured if she had flown at all she would have been several feet from the cage. So I think our poor little Savannah may be flightless. My husband had a good theory. He tought maybe from years of not being able to stretch her wings and excersice that she may have muscle atrophy. We think we may plan another vet visit in the near future to have it checked out. She did really enjoy being outside and I enjoyed taking her out!

 

[weco]

Blanca, if she ever is able to extend her wing a develop her flying ability, don't be deceived by her being clipped.....you can find a number of stories, in the forum, about birds that have successfully flown the coup with recently clipped wings.....the villain is lift caused by air flowing under their wings & air flowing over the wings causing a sort of suction.....even a light breezy may provide enough lift to allow Savannah to soar to that tree line behind you.....

 

[Blancaej]

I Will remember that. Thank you for the warning! It is appreciated.
I'm hoping to work on excercising her wings. Once I begin doing this I won't bring her out without a harness.

 

[Chesphoto]

Hi Blanca,

Just two weeks ago, I adopted a rescue bird that was also kept in a cage so small that for 10 years, it couldn't extend its wings. Unfortunately, it does have atrophy in his left wing.

So far, he has done two face plants. Once when the vacuum came on and he got startled and once when I brought him inside and he saw his cage and thought he could fly to it. Doh...

I am talking it over with the owner of the shelter to see if it is a good idea to let him grow his feathers out so he can glide down instead of just dropping like a rock. Or maybe grow out the side on the bad wing to balance out with the good wing. Any advise on how to proceed will be appreciated.

As others have mentioned, you should check with your vet to see what the possibility is of your parrots ability to fly. The stories of parrots flying away is heartbreaking and has to be balanced with your birds needs and abilities.

 

[MonicaMc]

I know someone who had to do some wing stretches with one of their birds to get the bird to open up their wing to the fullest extent. I asked for a bit of instructions from her so that another owner might be able to do the same with a cockatoo. Here's the info that was given to me. Maybe it will help you, too.

When you stretch out a birds wing, you are really doing a slight rotation of the shoulder. It doesn't go straight out. Start with the good wing. It is most likely pretty stiff, too, from what it sounds. Hold the bird on the hand facing you and take the wing at the elbow ( not the wrist) and gently stretch the wing till you feel the slightest resistance. And hold it there for a couple of seconds. Ease the wing back into position. Do this 3 to 5 times to start. It is ALWAYS better to not go far enough or long enough than to over do it. Even with the good wing, you may not get even 1/2 extension. then do the hurt wing. If the bird favors this wing and flinches, just get her used to your touching it. and over days or weeks she should feel better about letting you get a gentle, supporting hold of the elbow and easing the wing up and out till you feel the slightest resistance. I mean slightest, too. the first time or two ( or ten) just do this slowly, up and down. Eventually, work to holding the wing a second longer or a tiny bit more extended.

Each time you do this, only do it 1 to 5 times and take up to 5 minutes. So the lifts are not close together, give the bird rest time between them. Think of it more like yoga than like leg lifts. Always do it where the bird is warm enough to not get tensed up from the cold and do the good wing first. Afterwards, make sure the bird is not chilled and can move about at will.

At this point. You are working more to stretch the ligaments and tendons and not to beef up the muscles. As the bird gains more mobility, she will be able to build more muscles.

While you are lifting the wings ( even though it is a tiny amount) give it a name "lift' so that as time goes by and the lift gets better and better, you can eventually ask the bird to lift her wings on her own and praise her for more and more extension. I named flapping too. We called it "fly fly" and when she got to the point that she could flap, we would say "flyflyflyfly" till she was done. Eventually, she actually did take off in flight across the room. It was pretty bad, though, because she had really never fledged.

So when this bird gets so she can flap, you will have to teach her to fly.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Hi Blanca! You and Savannah both look GREAT! I swear, if I didn't know better, I'd think you'd been together all her life. She looks SO comfortable with you.

I can tell you a bit about Niko's wings. Even though he's only 3.5 years old, his breeder clipped him MUCH too soon. I was pretty ticked off, especially since I didn't even want him clipped.

Anyway, so from the time Niko came home, he was unable to fly. And the breeder had "butchered" his wings to the extent he plopped down each time he took a plunge. Over time he regrew some flight feathers, and then he'd have an accident and break them off when he'd fall. It was driving me mad!

Now, for the first time since he's been with me, his right wing is fully grown out, and he actually has 3 flight feathers on his left wing. He is VERY off balanced right now, and doesn't even want to do "flap flap" with me to exercise his wings. I am hopeful that his left wing will regrow the missing flight feathers, and then I'm planning on teaching him how to use his wings. Fingers crossed that he stays accident free

 

[Blancaej]

Thanks everyone for all the great tips and advice. I actually had a bird fly away years ago when I took her outside. I got her back the next morning. But it was no fun and getting them back is rare. I wouldn't have taken Savannah outside if I was not 100% sure that she could not fly. Even though my post says "I think she can't fly" the reality is, I know she can't. But I know you are all just looking out for me and you don't want me to lose my bird and I appreciate that! I have decided not to take her out anymore and take any chances. Plus I hope to begin working with her to get her wings moving and I don't want to take any risks of losing her.

Chesphoto - I'm sorry to hear about the difficulties your macaw is having. I have been fortunate that Savannah has only fallen once. But getting her to use that wing will be important. We hope to take her to the vet and have it checked out.

Monica - Thank you for all the great info! It will help me in trying to get her wings moving again!

Wendy - Thanks Wendy, she seems to have really bonded with me and is very comfortable with me handling her. I feel very fortunate that things are working out so well. I'm sorry things have been so difficult for Niko. It is really too bad the breeder did this to him. I hope you can get him to the point of flying some day. I am pretty sure at some point Savannah must have flown. I know the pet store that she came from and they do a fantastic job with there birds. The place is huge and all the birds are in a gigantic bird room where the big birds can get around and fly some if they want. She came from a breeder in FL. I have her birth certificate and the previous owner told me where she got her. I think it's just a matter of doing some exercise to get her back to normal. I am going to take her to the vet to have her wings checked out.

 

[Karigan]

Have you seen her flap on the top of her cage? Maybe try holding her on your hand and moving a bit to see if she flaps on her own. If she doesn't have atrophy she should open her wings fully when you do that. It might give you a better idea before you see a vet.

 

[Blancaej]

Good idea Karigan! She has extended her wings on top of the cage. She only fully extends the right one. The left she only extends half way. I will try tonight on my arm and see if I can get her to flap her wings.

 

[BACON]

My aunt adopted a bg mac and it had been in its cage 13yrs without ever coming out. She was also told it couldn't fly because of this. I bonded really well with this bird and used to take him out side.
It was breezy one day and I was walking down the garden and he stretched his wings and took off!!! It was a right pain getting him out the oak tree. He flew a good 400 metres!!!!

Once I knew he could fly I used to take him out and fly him a bit. Macaws seem best for that!!!

 

[Blancaej]

Thanks for sharing your story Bacon. I am hopeful that Savannah can and will fly again someday!

 

[Blancaej]

So I came home today and wanted to take Savannah outside again. Seeing that she seems to have a pretty laid back personality, I decided to go for it and tried the harness out. Aside from a few small protests when I stuck her wings in it, she did great! She chewed on it a bit, but I distracted her and that helped. I am so excited! Getting it off went well, too. I just hope she will do it again!

I also tried getting her to flap while outside. She moved her wings a little but did no flapping she didn't even stretch her wings out. So I do think she may have muscle atrophy. I will keep working with her and see how it goes.

 

[Blancaej]

I was just thinking about this, is there anything I should be concerned or cautious about when taking Savannah out for walks on her harness. Her safety is of the utmost importance to me and I want to make sure going out with her is as safe as possible. Any tips and info would be great. Thanks!

 

[JerseyWendy]

WOW, Blanca!!! You got her into a harness THAT quickly? Please feel free to come on over and teach my guys that the harness means them no harm.

FANTASTIC job!!! I need to pick my jaw off the ground now.

As long as Savannah is with you, I don't think you have anything to worry about. I know hawks can snatch up birds, but I doubt one will swoop down while Savannah is firmly attached to your arm.

I can't think of any other dangers....must be having an infamous "blonde" moment here. :54:

 

[Blancaej]

Thanks Wendy! I really do think it is because of her laid back personality! She definitely trusts her Mama!

It's going to take me some time to get Quincy to try one again! I had him in a harness once years ago and he freaked out. I never tried again. LOL! But now that I'm older and wiser, I am slowly working with him to get him comfortable with it. Could take a year, but I am going to keep trying. I feel bad because he is stuck in the house and can't come out, too.

I just decided to go for it with Savannah. She is just a sweet girl. I didn't tighten it all the way because I was putting it on with one hand while she was on my arm. It was kind of a spontaneous thing I did! LOL! So next time I am going to do it while she is on her portable perch. I just hope I can get her in it again. Fingers crossed!

And thanks for the advice. She wouldn't leave my arm and I couldn't think of anything to really worry about but I wanted to ask in case I didn't think of something.

 

[Blancaej]

Just wanted to update that I took Savannah outside and tried getting her to flap just to see how she would do and she was stiff as a board and looked at me like I had 3 heads. She then clung to me when I lowered her down. So sad that she is scared of such movements.

I took her out again and she actually flapped a little. So that was encouraging. I will continue to work with her and see how it goes!

 

[JerseyWendy]

AAWWW!!!! Poor girl probably hasn't used those muscles in ages. But she'll get here.

I think it's quite encouraging that she flapped on her own, so she must have remembered how good it felt.

Thanks so much for the update, Blanca!

(PS. My Niko took his maiden flight yesterday. From the java tree half way down the hallway WITHOUT crash landing. His one wing is fully feathered, and the other one has 4 flight feathers for the first time since I've had him. )

 

[Blancaej]

Wendy - That is awesome news about Niko! That must feel so good to see him fly without crashing! And the fact that one wing is fully feathered and the other is getting there is just great news. I'm so happy for you. We take in the poor babies and rehabilitate them and get them living a better life. It feels so good when we can help them improve there quality of life!