This is a very controversial issue. However, with Spring fast approaching, and birds being taken outside, what are your thoughts on clipping your birds and why?

What do you feel about breeders or bird stores clippng baby birds prior to you adopting them?

We do not clip. All of my birds have been clipped previously by owners, breeders and a pet store. We feel like allowing them to grow out their wings is going to do nothing but good for them. It will help their confidence and help them feel more secure in our home. But we take precautions in our home because our birds are/will be flighted. No fans on, no birds out while cooking, no opening doors when birds are close by, and of course constant supervision (especially with other pets around). I love my birds so much that sometimes I feel guilty that they sit in cages in my living room everyday. Sure they get lots of time out, toys, good food, and lots of love. But they sacrifice their life in the wild to bring joy to me and my husband. IMO I feel like the least I can do in return for them is allow them to do what they were created to do- fly. It is a natural urge and I am sure being unable to fly is quite frustrating and hard for a bird. It is also great exercise for them. None of them have really started flying yet as they have not grown in new flights yet, but when they do I want to work on recall training with them.

I feel like clipping is a personal decision and that you have to do what is best in YOUR environment. I really wish birds would be allowed to fledge to gain that extra confidence and learn how to land before a clip. And I really hate how petstores automatically clip their wings before they leave (all the local ones anyway). They did that to Doyle before he left Petco, he was barely 4 months old and has never learned to land properly. If I had known better I wouldn't have let them.

I myself am not hard set either way. In the place I live now allowing my birds to be flighted would be disastrous.
Cricket came home clipped and as of now I am not sure whether or not he will continue to be. Its going to depend on his bonding and Kelly, Cricket is her bird. Benji I don't stress real bad on keeping him clipped. He is ornery and when he has his wings he flies to Sophie for affection and Zoey to tease her. If Zoey gets the chance I have no doubt she would kill him. We just trimmed Benji last week to help keep him away from Sophie for awhile. He still spent most of his time on the floor. Its where he likes to be with or without flying.
Zoey is almost fully flighted and could care less. Why fly when she has that human at her beck and call? I was thinking about this a few days ago and had myself convinced previously that she had never been fledged. Then it dawned on me that her wings were not clipped until I brought her home. Two weeks after she was weened. She never once flew while at the store. She could have took off of my hand, my shoulder, lol my head!! But she never did. I've been trying to get her to fly but she wants nothing to do with it so far.
Sophie is clipped. Last four flights. Where I live is way to small for her to fly.
The two people I trust most about my birds are the breeder I got Sophie from and my avian vet. Mark (breeder) is so adamant about clipping he does it for free. Even if they weren't purchased from him. The vet also suggests clipping.
Zoey is the only one I have to work to get her to "flap 'em" Cricket is non stop in his cage all day, non stop times two when he is out of his cage. Benji is a perch potato. Zoey is very active if she thinks I am not around. If I am near by its all about getting my attention so I will get her. Sophie is just as on the go as Cricket is. Sophie loves her wingless jumps. Even when I have neglected getting them clipped "on time" and flight is possible, she loves her jumps!! Bottom line? When I get a house and can isolate the doors to the outside, pretty easy to do, and they can actually fly, they will.

Right now Schroeder is clipped. I'm planning on moving sometime at the beginning of summer and, since I'll have a fresh start with a new home, I'm going to make an effort to make it a safe fly zone but if I am not completely comfortable with him flying under supervision, then he's staying clipped.

He gets tons of excercise and is a happy healthy little guy. I would like to have him flighted, especially watching/reading about Camille and Ollie but we won't go down that round until I feel more confident with our situation.

We have 50 years ahead of us, god willing, there is plenty of time

All my birds are fully flighted now. When they were young and new to my home, they were very moderately clipped so they could learn the house rules and not get stuck up on top of cupboards or anything. Since then, they have all moulted and regrown their feathers and they are keeping them! !

They all live in complete security in an indoor aviary, they will all come to me when they feel like it and about half of them will come to me if I call them. We are a married couple in our 40s, no kids, no other pets, screens on all windows, fenced house so no surprise visitors on the doorstep and we watch ourselves everytime we even open the bird room door and make sure the other spouse isn't about to open the door to outside. It's second nature to us.

My birds love to fly and they are all fit and healthy because they have that freedom and the space. They all know how to "Go home" which means they if they are outside the bird room, they will fly back in.

I know not everyone has the kind of lifestyle to be able to have flighted birds, especially people who have kids who might leave the door open but I think birds are happiest when they can fly and enjoy themselves!

You can see my set up here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6H1TjghUVgI

I'd love to have Roxie fully flighted, but this house just isn't big enough for her to fly safely. Also, she loves to play outside in the summer, and we're surronded by people with dogs (and many of them think it's ok to just let them run loose) so, even with a harness or flight suit, I'd be too afraid something terrible would happen.

I was glad that the store we bought her from had her already clipped - it eliminated us having to do it until she was more comfortable with us.

Clip, clip, clip I lost a TAG to not clipping and she was trained to fly to me in our home, so please clip.

I plan on letting Jazzy's flight feathers grow in. First, I have to read up and become a master of bird proofing the house. She is clipped, but can still fly so when I take her out, I always put her Aviator harness on her. See her fly clipped:

Very nice pictures of your Eclectus. Owning Macaws I always find myself wondering where other birds tails have gone.

I choose to keep my birds flighted.

Jerry was always VERY frustrated when clipped, he could not even safely glide anywhere (and yes, he was properly clipped by my AV). We decided to let his wings grow in and we saw how much he truly LOVES to fly. It was amazing.

Then Lulu became his object of lust and he would constantly fly to her to try and woo her with his awesomeness, but she doesn't like him and doesn't want him near her at all. We didn't know what to do and were handling the situation entirely wrong, and we ended up getting Jerry clipped again. Back to major frustration for him, he was very sad and depressed when he would try so desperately to go just a few feet and he would fly straight up and then flutter backwards and crash straight down. I was very worried that he would injure his small little self from falling so hard. He would literally hit the floor with a squeak and it broke my heart every time.

Lulu eventually grew her flights in and we decided to see how things went with her flighted. Talk about a girl blossoming - she really came out of her shell once she realized that she could fly! I don't know if she was ever fledged, but at first her flying skills were VERY rocky - she couldn't control her flight, her landings were rocky, and she would land in the most awkward places because she couldn't steer.

It took Lulu a few months to master flying and now she's a pro. She can do tight circles, U turns, dips, all sorts of things. She has her preferred landing spots and she usually circles until she can safely land on one of those spots.

While Jerry was still clipped for the 2nd time we decided to work on training him in the chance that they could get along and be fully flighted together. With a lot of patience and training, we've achieved that.

Jerry is now fully flighted again and he's a new man - he's twice as alive with his wings and I won't take them away from him again. He's such a busy body and he's always on the go, but that's him. He flies everywhere, from one perch to the next, does laps around the house, flies to us constantly.

Jerry still tries to be sneaky and pester Lulu, but it's all about supervision with them.

They are never out unsupervised. Neither have any problems flying into walls or doors, they both know the house boundaries very well. Lulu still spooks easily and when she takes off in fright she circles until she calms down and can smoothly land. We have strict rules about coming and going when the birds are out - if a visitor comes to the door, the birds are put in their cages until the door is shut again. No dog or cats allowed out when the birds are out. For us it has not been hard to follow these rules, but we don't have kids either.

I think Tiffany said it really well in that I feel that I owe it to them to be birds and have what nature gave them. Especially since they are locked in cages while we're away. They are both much happier and more confident and it's been amazing to see their emotional growth.

Thanks for starting this thread, Kathie. I think this is a very important issue to discuss, despite how controversial it is.