After loosing 2 of our birds here to broken necks, I would advise you to clip your birds feathers.
Here's a link, we do our own clipping here.
WFWAvian.com
When I first became interested in birds I was completely against clipping the birds wings, after loosing 2 very cherished family members, one was hand fed and raised, she was gone within seconds, her first and only flight.
Now we clip here, not a loss since.
Its always up to you to decide.
Arty

My relies are so long - I hope they are worth reading tho.

I think it is important to note that when you have your bird out - be it clipped or flighted - you hope not to have it frightened or racing around. These things are often out of your control - you can try & set up a calm & safe scenario.

When I first let my bird out I was really worried. Lots of people said what Arty has said. They talked about their birds hitting windows & walls. The first day Laker was very excited but he was physically unable to sustained a big flight & flew to a perch only a few feet away & was panting. It took months before he could do a few turns around the room with some skill. For the first few months we would either stand or sit still when Laker was out flying or when it was Rio. We offered lots of landing spots. We didn't get in the way - as I was sure they had a lot on their plate; learning to maneuver in the small 'room' arena, instead of the more forgiving open air.

It was after a year of flying that we had an accident. Laker was in my son's room on his own. I have no idea what went wrong. He flew into my son's closet & I heard the thud from the living room. I ran to the room & called him & couldn't find him. I was very worried. He must have knocked himself & was dizzy or confused or frightened [or whatever] by this event. When I was standing in the room wondering what to do he suddenly appeared on my shoulder. He was very calm - almost placid. We walked together back to my room where all his stuff is & he was very content. Rio hit a window one day too. These experiences have allowed them to learn & acknowledge their abilities & limitations. Because they hit the surface, not in a blind panic, I think they stood a reasonable chance of learning from the accident.

In both cases no one was causing the action thru panic or fright & nothing happened. Heck, I have to confess missing the door opening & hitting the frame many times & bouncing painfully away. No one has thought to limit my movements. Note - I don't wish to make 'light' of 2 terrible experiences & Arty does not want you to have this experience. My point is - does it have to be that for you & your bird?

We can limit the possibility of something bad happening. We can't live every moment for them - no one can be that good.

I hope that Arty & his wife are not harbouring thoughts that it was their fault. Perhaps there might have been things they didn't consider - but clipping so they don't hit walls - well ..... I let my son learn to bike & hope he doesn't get hit by a car [he has learned some skills] - he did drive his bike into a wall the first day tho. ... I think that is an reaction based on fear alone.

As we have all stated - we have opinions - not something you asked for when asking for advice on how to clip.

I agree with Jac, all my babies are fully fledged before any wings are clipped and yes they do a bit of crashing but the environment is made safe before. They go for windows but since all the windows have net curtain these act like catch nets to prevent the baby making a full speed crash. It is afterwards when they learning the specifics of landing that some have fallen behind cabnets etc, but since they were not scared and landing anyhow the fall is light. My son fell and banged himself many times before he got the idea of walking.

Jac, that was such a thoughtful post. You made a very good point. Birds need to learn how to fly and navigate the home. Especially the smaller ones, who are able to pick up some significant speed, and who therefore, when they crash, crash hard. They need to learn how to maneuver around things and not to crash into the walls and windows. Not everything is instinctive, birds learn from their parents in the wild, and we are the parental substitute. And yes, making sure a bird is fully fledged before clipping is so important. If not, that bird may never learn to fly.

Great post Jac. Ollie flew into our sliding glass door when she was fledging. I think it happened maybe once after that when she was frightened by a loud noise. Other than that none of my birds have had any accidents running into windows/walls. Ollie and Dakota were allowed to improve their flight skills, with me doing everything I could to prevent accidents (and often holding my breath).

It's difficult for a bird to fly to their full potential indoors. But by watching the pigeons, especially zippy Mr. Mollie, outside it's obvious just how well and how quickly they can navigate to avoid obstacles. Mollie and Mira's home is located in a shelterbelt of evergreen trees. Branches everywhere. They zip in and out of those trees dodging every which way as they fly at full speed. I hit more branches than they do while walking at a snail's pace!

I just don't think clipping to avoid a bird hitting a wall is a sufficient reason to clip, but that is JMHO. A healthy bird who knows his environment is not going to run into a wall. Does the slim possibility warrant taking away a bird's flight, when that is what they're built to do?

As Jac stated, we sometimes can't prevent crashes when they are learning to fly/maneuver, but we can make the environment as safe as we can. When my guys first started flying we, too, would either sit or stand still as to allow them to make their necessary judgment calls. Running after them when they are still in mid flight will most likely cause us and them to panic. And even now when they all take flight simultaneously we stand still if we were walking around because it is likely that if we cross into the next room that we may get a budgie/tiel to the face (has happened ).

I learned a lesson with Winston when he was learning to fly. He had never been out of the cage in the living room but I had let him observe the room through the cage. I had only him out so as not to startle him with the chaos of the other two brats. He did inevitably spook but he flew into the next room, a room that he was not familiar with, and crashed into a window and bruised his cere. I should have known to block off that room - even though there is no door I could have done something like hang up a sheet. It was the speed that he built up that was the most detrimental, in addition to not being entirely familiar with the room.

Lulu also made many crashes along the way and we had to sit back and be calm and let her learn the ropes. Today she's an excellent flier who can land on a window sill with grace after tearing around the house at full speed. We don't have any window coverings on half of our windows and they all do great with the windows and have certain window sills that they all love to sit on.

Very true - Winkie was clipped before he fledged & as a result it took him about 9 months to learn how to fly. But when he did (after many crashes into our windows) he did beautifully. Winkie liked/likes flying to the top of our curtain rods. But he doesn't always make it & ends up sliding down.

Plus, p'lets are SO energetic that I have to fly Winkie in my room everydayso that he doen't go careering all over the house. After he flies he is much calmer & more subdued.

I asked the question last year when I was at the vet wit Sophie for her broken beak. How often do you get birds in here injured from flying into windows or walls? Five years before then there was one. So it is a rare thing most likely but a valid worry. I prefer to keep my fids clipped due to size restrictions in my home. Should I ever get the dang kid out of the bird..........ummm........... his bedroom...............

Well this is obviously a hot topic. My new TAG, 3 months old arrived with one wing clipped, which I have noticed that it throws his balance off. I am due to go to the vet to have the other clipped. I am a new bird owner and I have two babies. My other an Indian Ringneck arrived with both wings clipped and I am not happy with his clipping I feel it was too severe. As s/he can't glide to the floor. I want to let the feathers grow and will make a decision once the wings have grown out.

I have no specific opinion on this, however I too have a space issue so neither of my birds would be able to fly freely through my house. Anyway Mischief the ringneck terrorises my dog, so I really do not think that she stands a chance with this hooligan.

Covering windows, putting on decals, closing drapes or verticals etc. is of utmost importance when our Fids are flying around inside a room or in our homes in general (tacking up a bed-sheet temporarily will even work), most especially when they are flying in a long room with the windows at the end(s) of the rooms vs. on the sides. The most serious injuries usually happen when the bird has gotten up a good bit of speed before crashing - this is when necks get broken etc...... Walls are of much less concern than windows of course because the windows are usually clear and the bird has already focused on something on the other side, thus if it happens to notice the window somehow before it hits, it is usually too late to stop or change direction.

I understand (?) (haven't done or had it done myself though) that a well experienced A.V. can pull out safely the remaining part of clipped feathers so that new ones will grow in quickly. This may be a better idea vs. clipping the other wing to insure balance and then waiting for the natural molt before the bird can fly again.