Birds In Flight

Flying For Confidence

By Rev. S. Abbott (TheCaretaker)

www.4AnimalCare.org

A bird’s life is to be lived as a bird. Anyone who intends to change the nature of the bird, is doing the bird and themselves an injustice. Unless you’re keeping a penguin or an emu, or any of the other flightless by design birds, your feathered friend should have learned to fly by the time he left the breeder. This, however, isn’t always the case as some breeders find it easier to manufacture birds like an assembly line and they neither spend the time necessary to encourage first flights, nor the effort to insure safe ones. They just clip the wings and move the birds out to people who pay.

It is this type of breeder, by the way, everyone should avoid. Not only are the birds going to be more likely to have emotional, physical and health problems, but by buying them, it’s encouraging the breeder to over-breed, jeopardize the health and longevity of the mating pairs and the cycle never stops. Please, always know your breeder, check reputations, visit the facility/home and be a responsible bird owner before you own the bird.

Now, you’ve got a bird who has never learned to fly. If his wings have been clipped, while letting them grow out, make some practice (and exercise) motions.

Using two people: One holds the bird on a finger/forearm (depending on size) and while very close to the 2^nd person, counts “one-two-three-Fly!” as you hold the bird’s feet securely with the ‘thumb over toes’ method and make little lifting motions (up on the count of ‘one’, then down; up on the count of ‘two’, then down; up on the count of ‘three’ and hesitate - then forward on ‘fly’). When you make the forward motion from the up position on the ‘fly’ count, release the thumb hold and have the 2^nd person ready to receive the bird. Let the bird just hop or even walk over the other persons hand/arm and praise it for the good job! Lot’s of praise!

Then, let the 2^nd person repeat the entire exercise back to you.

Just do this a few times a day, don’t over-tire the bird or frighten it. If you notice the bird seems afraid (they try to escape your hand/arm), stop for a while, do something else with it and give it some time.

The best times for these exercises are when the bird is relaxed and receptive to play and learning. There’s usually twice a day (mid morning and late afternoon) when they are interested in new things, but it may be different according to individual birds, so learn the bird and go with it.

Take your time with the flight lessons. When the bird starts flapping in anticipation of ‘flying over to the other perch’ (the 2^nd person) and you can feel it actually getting some ‘lift’ off your hand/finger, increase the distance between you slightly and possibly the height from which you hit the ‘fly’ count.

Be sure the area is bird-flop safe. If he flips, flops or drops like a stone in spite of your best efforts to keep it from happening, just make certain there’s no hard surface, sharp corners or dangers. Pick him right up, make sure he’s fine and praise him even more enthusiastically (it just may help override the failure imprint with a pleasure imprint, at least a little).

While your bird learns to fly, you are learning patience. You are creating a bond and a relationship that will be unsurpassed in the animal world.

Now, if you don’t have a 2^nd person available - using a perch in place of that person is an option. Be sure the perch gives a comfortable and secure foot grip. Preferably natural wood branches (non-pesticide treated; cleaned), rope perches or pvc portables that have been scored or covered for gripping. The perch will be the flight target every time and you will be the launch pad every time.

Again, even if the bird is just stepping off a finger at first, it’s one small step for bird…one giant leap for his confidence!

(I am the author of this article. Please feel free to use it for your personal use).

Stop clipping his wings for the next few months and if after about a month or 6 weeks you don't see an improvement, you may want to have him checked by an avian professional (doctor of veterinary medicine), although I truly don't suspect anything seriously wrong as long as he's thriving (eating, growing, behaving normally).

Get back to me and let me know if there are any more details you think I should know, ok?

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Many have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it.

You remain responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.

Hello. Cockatiels don't really fly backwards. Babys who were never allowed to fledge and were given a really bad wing clip can almost seem to fly backwards. There is no fault with your bird. The fault lies with whoever did a very poor job clipping flight feathers before the baby had a chance to learn to fly. I'm sure you know that Tiels are among the strongest of fliers. The strength is there in the wings even if the flight feathers have been "butchered". He has no control right now but when he flaps with that strength, he can appear to go backwards momentarily and/or flip over backwards. You are not going to be able to "teach" this baby to fly. Not by holding his toes, risking a fracture, flapping him up and down with his toes trapped and likely scaring the bejeebers out of him. Until his flights have properly regrown to sufficient length, he is at high risk of serious injury. When a bird's flights are clipped properly, it does not stop them from flying. It only prevents them from gaining altitude. A properly trimmed bird can glide 15-20 feet, slowly losing altitude and land perfectly and in complete control of that landing. The first thing you must do is to insure that your baby can do that. The only safe way is to have him glide from your hand onto the bed or any well cushioned surface. If he does not have this control and he ends up hitting the floor, he is prone to tearing the tender skin near his vent. More than likely that would be an emergency trip to the vet as he will start bleeding and little birds cannot lose much blood and survive. It happened to one of my tiels who had received a shoddy clip job before I adopted him. We were at the vets office within 20 minutes of the accident and it still required 4 stitiches and IV fluids to save him. The reason this happens is Tiels always land tail first. If they fall too hard and those stiff tail feathers hit first, it splits the skin open near the vent. So this is a very serious situation until the flights regrow. This is a little bird, not a ball and he should not be "tossed" back and forth between two people, trying to make him fly when more than likely, he is unable to at this point. Your only choice is to watch him very carefully, do not allow him to take any tumbles until he has regained his flight feathers and do not leave him outside of his cage, unsupervised. It's going to take him a little longer to be able to fly properly but if you will make sure he is protected from accidents in the meantime, he will be just fine in a few months. I say months because I don't know just how short his flights may have been trimmed. Just don't let him loose over hard floors until he has proven he can control his landing on the bed. I hope this helps you but if you have any further questions at all, don't hesitate to let me know. Patricia

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Patricia is right, you don't 'hold' the toes, you put a thumb over them, gently. Our info is generally read by people who have basic bird care knowledge and just need some specific help . There is no 'tossing' involved, nor bouncing; as I outlined, it's very often just a step off one arm to another at very close proximity. I'm awfully sorry for any misunderstanding and appreciate Patricia's input. It's so important to avoid any possibility of harm.

We use the word 'teaching' a bird to fly for general human understanding. Birds, of course, know how to fly, whether or not they've had the opportunity. I understood that your bird was trying anyway (and crash landing). We've found that the exercises described give in to the bird's desire to 'fly' and need for exercise as well as increased confidence. Our two consultants for 'tiels have 18 and 55 years (each) experience. They both have current aviaries as hobbyists (not sales) and rescues. The young woman (18 years experience with 'tiels) also handles all smaller birds at one of our humane society facilities.

An excellent source of 'tiel information is http://mickaboo.com/

I also gathered from your inquiry that you wouldn't let this or any bird be in any obvious distress or suffer injury without pursuing treatment .

Is there a bird specialty store in your area? Many times, the people who run these privately owned stores are quite well versed in handling techniques and could help show you, hands-on. (This by no means reflects any opinion I may have about the individual ethics behind some of these stores)

Let me know any specifics I may further help with and again, if there's injury or bleeding, see a vet right away .

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Many have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it.

You remain responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.

Is this bird in distress? The only way to get help is to see someone who can evaluate the 'tiel hands-on.

If it's still a matter of flying (or trying to and failing), it would probably be wise to keep him in his cage unless he can be closely supervised outside of it, while his feathers grow in.

At 4 months old, he's still pretty young and you did mention the feather clipping may have been severe or 'off'.

The two most important things are to protect him from harming himself and determine whether there is something seriously wrong with the bird (which, since you're still concerned, gives me cause for concern as well). A vet, preferably one specializing in avian care, should honestly be consulted to make the best decision about what's happening.

If you need a list of avian vets in your area, let me know. We have a national network of caring, professional, licensed personnel that may be close to you.

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Many have forgotten this truth, but you must not forget it.

You remain responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.