Oh my, six pages already on this issue - okay, here goes my 2 cents worth, which I'm sure most of you are already aware of! CLIP - CLIP - CLIP!!
I'd be rolling in the $$$$$ if I had a dollar for everytime someone called me in anquish because their precious bird had just flown out the door or worse yet, crashed into a mirror and broke it's neck. Yes, there is nothing more beautiful than a parrot in full feather and when they take flight it's breathtaking, BUT it's definitely not worth the risk in my opinion.

Great post Shanlung, thank you! I could not have stated my feelings and reasoning about wing clipping better than you just did.

Shanlung how nice to see you here at ParrotChatter, WELCOME!! I have always enjoyed your stories about Tinkerbell and Shama Yingshiong. I hope you'll have time to start a thread and bring us all up to date how everyone has been.

Edited to add: I found your other thread Thanks so much.

GREAT post Shanlung! I agree 100% with everything you said. And welcome to Parrotchatter, it's so great to have you here!

I choose to keep Humphrey flighted.

When I first got her, I had her clipped, as I was told it would help with the bonding process. I have no problem with clipping baby birds to help them bond with their owners and gain confidence with hands and toys.

However....Flight is an essential part of "birdness". You woulnd't do something to a dog because it insisted on walking everywhere! I know that living in a house is artificial for a bird, but something about clipping just seems wrong to me - it's a bird, and wings and flight are essential parts of its nature. It seems like disabling the bird for the owner's convenience. (Please don't think I'm criticizing anyone who clips their bird - this is my opinion on MY bird and MY house)

Also, Humphrey was so angry the last time she was clipped she sat in her cage, sulking for 3 DAYS!

Ok, now my 2 cents worth = DON'T CLIP, DON'T CLIP, DON'T CLIP & DON'T GIMME LIP!! ....... ...



On the last three words.



"Not worth the risk" you say ?? To whom ? I feel the better health & happiness of the bird IS worth (to the bird) the very small risk - providing the keeper does his/her part in taking all necessary precautions to tremendously reduce the odds of injury or escape.

Yes, unfortunately for the birds who have irresponsible owners (IMO) and/or careless owners (IMO) or NOT CAREFUL ENOUGH owners (IMO) or "tight" owners in my opinion (not willing to save, earn and/or spend what money is needed to safety proof a room or build a safe-flight-aviary outside or inside - temperature controlled if necessary), their lives must be lived in a handicapped state......That is fact (IMO) and none of us will ever be able to change that - even though some of us continue to try.

Clipped birds will NOT be as happy or as healthy as unclipped birds - proven facts as far as I am concerned. Such is the fate of a clipped bird.

I wish their keepers would make the effort to cover the mirrors or put decals on them. I wish their keepers would lock doors when children are in the room. I wish their keepers would close the toilets before letting them out and shut off the ceiling fans and electric/gas range. I wish their keepers would remove or shut off etc. all the other hazards in the room where they will be out flying, playing and having fun. I wish their keepers would wear something around their neck to remind them their bird is out or etc. or take any other measures to help their forgetful minds work better - to include eating more fish (so they say ).

Will a bird still rarely escape or get hurt? Yes, as some of us will still get into car accidents or have to deal with our human children getting hurt or killed while living life to it's fullest (no matter what we do). Do we lock ourselves or them into a room to protect them from everything in life? NO, we do not. Accidents do happen! We must do our BEST to reduce the possibilities of them happening - NOT deliberately handicap these wonderful creatures for our own convienience...JMO.

Please, do I have to hear again from some: "One must do what one thinks is best for their own birds"? ... Geeze/sheesh/etc., that IMO = Cop-out!!!!

As the Nike commercial says: JUST-DO-IT!!!!!! Do whatever it takes to provide safety for all your birds and let them fly, like nature intended. Quit with the excuses, will ya!!!!! ... Note: My comments are not directed at anyone in particular.

Well, once again it is/was nice to be able to voice one's beliefs and opinions, to state proven facts, etc., - to discuss and debate for the benefit of all of our fids. For the overly sensitive among us, just please get & understand the message (don't shoot the messenger). And please don't get up-tight about words not always being sugar-coated - not my style, hard for me to do, I don't have that much time either. ...

Well, I gotta go now - to make sure the moat is fully stocked, soon it will be time

to feed the "guards".

No offense taken BUT the risk I was speaking of was the bird's!

Question directed to Joel:

honest question here. So, what if you are living in a smallish house, open floor plan. Speaking from my perspective, you have 2 caiques, 2 parrotlets, and an amazon.

The caique divebombs the parrotlets cage with intent to kill. You remove the caiques from the room with the parrotlets- but the caique (I am talking of Higgins, here) still chooses to fly from one room (and he can do so easily, as the house is smallish and the floor plan is open, so navigation is easy) and attack the parrotlets in their cage??

I've had that happen. He almost got at Tahoe and almost did serious injury. Clip clip went the wings- for the safety of the other birds in the house. In that situation- where one bird is intent on inflicting harm on another bird- what is your recommendation if one is intent on keeping flock members flighted?

This is an old thread and there are others.

DITTO DITTO DITTO.

Never a reason to clip unless there is an injury and adjustments have to be made.

Patsnest I'll make you a deal.

I'll pay you FIVE dollars for every case you present where a bird broke it's neck or something, or escaped that I cannot prove it was the owners fault.

Contingent on you having the facts of course :-)

Birds that can FLY NEVER JUST arbitrarily fly into walls and things. This is an old wives tale because people who live with flighted birds know better because we LIVE IT.

People who pass that testimonial around leave out the part that for example:

*The bird had no flight skills to begin with and was just left out crazily
*The bird was the first day in the house and just left out crazily
*The bird was CLIPPED ANYWAY but flew somewhere clueless
*The bird was still learning and not supported by the owner
*The bird was totally unsupervised and people let it out
*The bird was TAKEN OUT like on a husband's shoulder
* The bird never belonged in the house to begin with because of daily chaos

........The list is endless.

My grandmother had a 23 year old flighted Budgie all her life flighted. I had a pet store EVERYONE FLIGHTED except the budgies brought in clipped. AND THEY WERE ALL OUT IN THE OPEN IN A PLAYPEN INCLUDING MACAWS.

I've never clipped a bird in my whole life and neither has my vet except for when the clients demanded it.

And PS the guy who let the Parrotlet fly into BOILING FUDGE gets the true idiot award for the worst irresponsible act I've ever heard of.

And I bet I can guess what happened. IF the bird WAS a skilled flyer as stated. The bird flew to the GUY and he got panicky and moved instead of staying still for the bird to land and something happened because of that.

Parrots are better mentally, psychologically, emotionally, behaviorally being flighted. And it is the MOST healthy exercise and the ONLY exercise that provided the cardio and muscles to be USED as nature intended.

I dont believe in altering any animals just so I can slack off. AND if my birds were clipped they would drive me insane and I need them to fly so they remain normal. Not needy, demanding and always getting into something. Like the electric cord around the cage they have no way of getting off of except to put all their weight on their beaks climbing around.

I just will never understand the logic of keeping a bird from having all it's body parts and needs, for an ENTIRE LIFETIME which can be like 50 years in some cases, and contributing to ILL HEALTH (no exercise) for human convenience.

We know they are wild animals when we decide we have to have one. We take away everything, nature, real food, nutrition, incorrect sleep, incorrect lighting, incorrect seasons, no chosing a mate, no even having ANY bird friends, no families, no mentors, no learning how to be a bird i.e. bathing, losing the 24/7 flock they are wired to have and forced to replace it with a couple hours a day after we get home from work, sleep deprived, the list goes on.....

Cant we at least make them first for ONE thing that is so important to THEM that we can easily do?