Has Winkie fledged? or not? Weigh in.

I'll explain... He started his summer molt a while ago & his wing feathers have started growing back in.
Well, on Saturday I was standing in the kitchen trying to get him to fly to my shoulder. He took off all right, but he overshot my shoulder & flew - level, sustained flight - for at least 20 ft. He did end up hitting the lampshade. (It's soft though.)
Then on Sunday afternoon I was standing in my bedroom doorway trying to get him to fly onto my bed. He was turned, - tryin' to get to me - & took off. This time he flew into my brother's room. To get there by flight it takes some curving & Winkie did it, landing on the curtain. Again, it was a level sustained flight of about 20 ft.

I guess it depends on your definition of "fledged"! Most dictionaries seem to define it as "having the plumage or feathers necessary for flight". In that sense, he's certainly fledged. I think the definition we (as bird-keepers) lean toward also involves mastering the skills necessary for successful maneuvering while in flight, and gaining the ability to land er.....gracefully. In that sense, Winkie is well on his way, that's for sure, and I'll bet he'll have it down pat in no time.

IMO, true fledging is when the bird has mastered flight skills. That's going to take much more than a few flights. It took Ollie months to perfect her flying skills -but of course she wasn't allowed to properly fledge before she was clipped.

I think Winkie needs a bit more practice to perfect the skills. Soon he will know exactly where your shoulder is. He is well on the way.

I agree he's getting there. But not yet skilled. If he were, he would have landed right on target either you, or the lampshade. Unless the lighting was dim but still mine fly in dim lighting all the time. But learning birds dont do so great and need light. OR unless you moved or put your arm up or finger or something.

Also about the doorway. That's what threw him off I think.

In "flight school speech" that's called a "small space". That's hard for them and one of the steps. So you want to be beyond the doorway giving him a bigger clear path for now. In a larger bird a small space would be perhaps a narrow hallway.

In time he'll even be able to squeeze in a 3-4 inch door opening but prolly not for months.

You want to be very careful now not to try and shut the doors to keep him out once he's out of the cage. A number of times I almost slammed the door in Piper's face (eek) because she came barrelling down the hallway at breakneck speed and it was just when I was closing a door. So I dont do that anymore. If they are out all doors stay put. Open or shut unless I carefully open or shut real slowly.

The flight into your brother's room was definitely a pro turn LOL. Now I think you'll see alot of improvement. They do better though, at first going short distances to the destination like a layover at first. So you giving him a target of you is good. Just stand there still don't put your arm or hand up or anything. It confuses them. I stand still for mine even now unless I'm calling them and they see my arm first. Before takeoff.

Also there are alot of subtle things. Like they have to learn they cant really fly "UP" straight to something although they try over and over again until they understand. These are the skills that take awhile and are great to observe.

Thanks for letting him fly. He'll be much happier, healthier, and easier to get along with too, less "demanding" too so to speak.

Toby's juvie molt was in about Oct...he started flying Nov or so, was passable in Dec, Jan....and expert in I'd say.....ummmm May or June. He also had Piper to follow so it was easier. Maybe not expert but past the stage of worrying about him. And she can still fly circles around him but he's not motivated anyway. He's a follower LOL, also loves landing on me more than her.

Cindy, Winkie's juvie molt came & went & he didn't start growing in his flights until his summer molt.
Also he has around 3 flight feathers on one wing & 4 (aprox.) on the other. That may have contributed to his ability to turn so well. (He flies kinda sideways/lopsided.)
I've been practicing w/ him ever since he would step up on my finger to get him used to flight & build up his muscles. I would get him on my finger, hold him at arms length & tip my wrist so he'd take off towards me. Also I would stand as close to my door as possible facing my bed & tip my wrist towards the bed. There are other ways I worked with him but explaining them would take too much space. (It was the same basic technique - him on my finger & me tipping him where I wanted him to go, or encouraging him to come to me.)
It's gotten to the point that he will take off to get back on me if I put him down somewhere where he can't waddle back to me.

Thank you all for your help. I'll keep him practicing.

Nice job! Sounds like he's having alot of fun (and you too lol)

(forgot to say prolly you wont see his full skills till each side is equal...and grown in...so for now he's doing great)

Leah, so far so good. It's good that you work with Winkie. Tommaso was clipped when I first got him and his flight feathers were growing faster on one side, so sometimes when he flew, he would fly over where he was trying to land and fly a little sideways. Then one day, my baby flew right to me spot on. He now can land on a dime perfectly. (if he wanted to) . He can turn and fly under door frames. Your going to be so happy when Winkie grows all his flight feathers. He's going to really try to impress you. I know Tommaso looks so happy after he lands where he is aiming. He seems to always look at me after the landing so I could say, "Wow, your good ".
Keep us posted.

Morena

I agree with the others and think that Winkie is well on his way to being fledged - and I take "fledged" to mean that they have control over their flight. Maybe not totally mastered it to the point where they can do fancy aerial stuff, but mastered turning and landing and judging distances. And I think it's wonderful that you're working on his skills with him.

I totally agree with Cindy about:
1) Lighting - make sure the rooms are well-lit, this will help him a lot.

2) Doorways being intimidating - doorways were a problem for Winston at first, at the last second he would hesitate and turn around and not go through the doorway. And a doorway coupled with a turn can be scary too - it took months for Winston to master that.

3) Be careful closing/opening doors once he's up to speed (pun intended) - we had the most issues with the bathroom door. It's always closed and when the birds were out sometimes Jerry would follow me and be barreling behind me, I open the bathroom door, and he'd shoot right into the pitch black bathroom and of course freak out cause he couldn't see. I'd turn the light on and he'd shoot back out narrowly missing my head Or else as Cindy said, we've almost closed doors in his face too if we weren't paying attention to if he was right behind us. Now it's just a matter of closing doors slowly and it's no longer a problem since we're more aware.

I think it's definitely true that having flighted birds keeps you more aware regarding where your birds are - when mine are out, even if I'm doing something else, I know where they are and what they're doing, and also what I'm doing. It's just 2nd nature now.

I'd say he has definitely "fledged" which to me means a bird is able to fly, but has just started to take to the wing. He certainly isn't a skilled flyer yet, but that comes with practice. He'll get the hang of it with time.