Heather, I think you're on the right track. She is growing into her adult self, and is quite conflicted and confused right now. Taking your cues from her will help minimize the damage to you, and help with her frustration as well. I just want to say that I think you're doing one heck of a good job, and Harrison couldn't ask for a more thoughtful and loving guardian!

Well said Nate,
We humans do our best for our birds, we tend to be scared that this and that may happen, I know this old man has climbed up trees and climbed over fences to bring home a fully clipped bird.
Those wings grab a gust of wind and away they go.
We have been very lucky here, 3 birds caught the breeze and three birds came home, some aren't that lucky.
I guess the way I look at it is, we have already taken there freedom away by making them our pets, yes they can fly around within our home, but is this really FLYING?
After loosing 2 birds from broken necks, this firm believer in (no clipping) changed his mind very fast.
Humans error, every time we have lost a bird here its been human error, and still I see my wife take a bird outside when its kinda windy.
The 2 birds we lost from broken necks was during there first and only flight, not human error.
Rose and I could have thought before we said step up (oh hey, bet there going to fly today) as we took them to there morning breakfast perch.
As long as there are risks involved, why take them?
None of the birds we have lost would have been found if they were fully flighted.
There are many ways to gain the upper hand when it comes to behavior issues, wing clipping is but one.
I never understood the clicker training thing, so when your bird does something favorable you click the little clicker, why can't a person snap there fingers, how about a little whistle, I just don't understand the clicking thingy...
Long after you put the little clicker away you will hear click click click coming from your bird, I don't get it...
Back in the old days a person simply carried some seed or nuts in his/her pocket, when your little friend done something "good" he/she got a treat, then someone came up with the clicking thing...Hmmmmmm, makes a person wonder.
As many have stated, its really up to the person concerning clipping, the pro's and con's of clipping can make a person go crazy.
Frankly, I think clipping a birds wings is the worse thing anyone can do to a bird, but then there are much worser things, like wondering where your bird is after making a human error and out the door your little friend goes.

It's not like I didn't think for a while to clip Rio - little devil - & i got lots of replies to my own questions. But I think the long hall is worth it. It is good to be able to work these things out without any fear of bad vibes. 'I wonder, I wonder', is pretty common way for people to mull things over.

I think you are a good owner. It can't be easy to deal with the biting & still be upbeat. Like you said, you are following thru with changed behavior & she's surprised. If you act on her asking to go to her cage - maybe she will understand that human 'song' means just that. Laker literally flies to & hops inside his cage when I say 'bedtime'.

I hope to hear more positive things from you soon.

Arty - I never got around to getting a clicker - the one thing that Laker waits for is a 'tap on the stick' or 'on my hand' & then he comes - even without seeing the treat. The thing about treats - keep them small or they will spend tons of time munching & ignore you! Clickers are like a punctuation - they really get their attention & later you slowly take away the clicker part - I'm too lazy to do it I guess. Never thought they'd learn to Click back!

I was in a hurry replying to the thread. By no means did i mean that by keeping my tag clipped meant i could be complacent about his safety. I do not trust others for the safety of my bird. I had a full flighted quaker who broke his beak flying into a mirror. I am gun shy because of this.

"I had a full flighted quaker who broke his beak flying into a mirror."

That's because birds have no concept of what a mirror is and, as far as they are concerned, it's a window with another bird in it. They need to be taught or, better still, they need to be kept in a birdroom where there is nothing that can harm or confuse them.

The truth is that birds and people cannot really cohabit without one or the other giving in to something. Unfortunately for them, it's usually the birds that end up with the short end of the stick but I know somebody who lives in a studio apartment with cage-free, fully flighted birds. And it works just fine because this young lady would much rather keep her birds happy than have the usual niceties so, instead of her birds living in a human apartment with human accoutrements, she lives in a giant parrot cage - LOL.

I haven't had any trouble with mirrors [but can see the danger] - maybe because the Budgie lads love mirrors & know about them. When Rio flew around our bedroom for the first time he hovered a long time by the gym in front of the mirror - trying to figure out which one to land on I'm 100% sure of it.



It may not be as easy for a larger Parrot to hover - the Grey I looked after was a slower flyer tho.

You are correct, larger parrots have great difficulty hovering, especially the 'pet' ones because they simply don't fly enough (practice makes perfect). And, besides, you can't compare becuase budgies are REAL good fliers. I know I am constantly amazed at how good they are at it and I have a lot of different birds... And, boy, can they fly fast! They are so quick, everything seems to happen simultaneously when they fly by: a little flash of color, their wings just a blur, and a sound like a tiny helicopter. But, regardless of how fast they go and how many obstacles there could be in their way, they never, ever miss a perch, miscalculate a turn, land clumsily or crash. Well, I do have one (Peek-a-blue) that, every now and then, misses and ends up on the floor but that's because one of his wings broke and was never set correctly so it's a bit off (the vet says to leave it be, he is perfectly functional and it would be too stressful to put him through a surgery that might not even fix it completely).

Isn't that the truth! Little blurs of color as they streak by like fighter jets Winston will sometimes get flustered and miss a perch. Doesn't happen very often though. He's not as skilled as Jerry. I don't know if that's an English trait or due to his early life (or both).