I received this email today

I replied that i still want him flighted & hoped he doesn't give her too much trouble - or get into any.
& i asked when i can pick him up.

I know this is a touchy subject, BUT, if I had a dollar for everytime a distraught person called to ask me if anyone reported finding a______ (you fill in the space) I'd be sitting on Easy Street right now. On a sadder note, I've had calls where the tears were flowing through the phone - poor bird flew into the fan, window, mirror, etc. and broke it's neck
Furthermore, no bird leaves our adoption program until all flight feathers are nicely cut. As you can see, I promote cutting those flight feathers not just because the bird may be easier to tame, but for the reasons stated above.

I promote clipping of babies once they are able to fly, for safety reasons. I don't think a bird is any tamer clipped than unclipped. They can runaway if they don't want to be held. All clipping achieves in taming is giving the baby a chance to make the decision to flee or not. It may be an idea to clip once and then not again. Alternatively get Rio as soon as possible.

Oh my goodness - i totally sympathise - it must be a real worry when you let a baby go off to a new home.

I am pro-flight but understand it isn't always possible for others.

We have some nice big rooms & bird proof - so hopefully he won't hit a wall! or mirror! Laker hasn't - although he did hit the window one day & I can't remember why that happened. He just bumped into it - but yes, i've heard some very sad stories.

I'm planning on working with him in the cage initially - just hope he calms down - sounds like a worst pest than Laker....

Thanks for your honest reply - I am thinking about it obviously or i wouldn't have posted about it.

well, i can understand the concerns about safety, but i'm pro-flight as well... valo was my very first bird with clipped feathers, and that didn't last very long. my house is as safe as i can get it, and valo is a good flyer. however, we did loose a baby once who flew into a window which was totally our fault.
i'd try to work with him flighted... just because i think birds are meant to be that way.

Well it definitely sounds like he won't be a wallflower You will have your work cut out for you!

Obviously Winston is not a baby, but he has not had much trouble banging into things while learning the ropes of flying and turning and landing. He had one fairly big crash with a window when he got spooked (that was the first day he was out in the playroom/living room), but that's it. Ever since then he can at least control his flight until he can find a landing place. When we began getting him out of the cage we started in one room - and I think I should have sectioned the rest of the open rooms off better (most doorways don't have doors in my house, it's very open) until he got used to each room better.

If it were me I would probably leave him flighted and see for myself how he responds to things. But yes, it's something to think about.

Let us know when he can come home

It's a tough call.
My husband would be angry if i had him clipped. I just don't know if a baby needs to be a bit more mature to handle things like windows. I definately want him in a calm environment when the time comes for his flying lessons. When i let laker check out the rooms i always sat down so he didn't have to worry about where i was.
YOu know we live on the 29th floor. Right now he's in a basement. We have pretty big windows here [6'2"W x 4'8"H], in each bedroom.

Well at any rate he'll be in the cage at first until i can assess the situation. Right now i'm worried he'll get into trouble in her basement. Maybe she'll say he can come home this weekend.

I don't know about babies since I've never had a flighted baby. Maybe someone else here does - maybe Arty or Angie?

I got Ollie at 8.5 weeks. She wasn't allowed to fledge, so my situation is a little different. I made sure to take her around and show her where all the windows are. She's had 1 flying into a window accident. It was when I was out of town, and my now ex bf was taking care of her for me. Ollie didn't really like him, and when she got out of her cage he was chasing her around trying to catch her. This was well before she learned to control her flying. She was upset and frantic- she crashed into a window, but was fine. Now that she is able to control her flight and knows where the windows are we have never even had any close calls. I think that a bird who knows where the windows are, and has good flight control skills should never have any reason to crash into a window.

Well it looks as if the breeder is taking action - think I'll give her a tip.

That's my boy!

~ maybe he'll be tamer by the weekend!