Macaws:
Red Shouldered (Hahn's) Macaw
Severe Macaw
Blue And Gold Macaw
Blue Throated Macaw
Military Macaw
Red Fronted Macaw
Scarlet Macaw
Green Winged Macaw
Hyacinth Macaw
Hurricane Sandy was a wake up call for people in the northeast and a reminder to everyone that we are not invulnerable. Whether you live in a tornado, earthquake, flood, or other natural disaster prone region, it is important to be prepared. Even if you live in the safest possible region, other unforeseen problems such as fire, electrical outage, or medical emergency can still happen. Therefore we must all make sure that we are able to care for our pets even under extreme circumstances. The number of lost and abandoned pets from the recent hurricane is astounding as much as unacceptable. I would like to go over some things to consider in preparation for unforeseen circumstances and how it pertains to parrots. As difficult as it may be to deal with a disaster, it is even more difficult for us to keep our parrots safe because of their special needs.
I challenge you to consider a few of the following scenarios and play through in your head what you would do to deal with it. Better yet, run through some of the steps with your parrot that may pertain to handling or the bird's reaction. Then I will share what I would do in each case and what you can do with your parrot now to be prepared.
Case 1: Electrical Outage: whether a loss of power specifically in your home or in your entire community, what will you do? What if it's a summer time black out and temps are over 100F? What if this happens in winter and takes your heating system down with it? How will you feed your parrot without fridge or microwave and a week long outage?
Case 2: Pre-Disaster Evacuation: a predicted natural catastrophe in your area mandates urgent evacuation. Are you prepared to bring your pets with you? Where will you go? How will you keep your parrot safe in the new location? What supplies must you bring and what can be left behind? How will you get your parrot out of the cage? What will you transport it in? What will the parrot live in while away?
Case 3: Sans-Civilization Survival: what if you remained through a natural catastrophe or were hit by an unexpected one that leaves you without modern conveniences for weeks? You are stuck in your home without running water, electricity, heating, or cooling. Do you have the supplies on hand to take care of yourself, family, and pets?
Let's consider all of the things our parrots take for granted that require electricity and would be affected if it were cut off. First there's temperature control. In the summer it may be too hot without power for cooling and in the winter too cold without heating. As it turns out, most gas heating systems still require electricity to function. So while a gas outage could be overcome with electric heaters, an electric shortage takes out all stationary heating systems. If electricity is cut off in the entire neighborhood then it may affect access to water (pumping stations) and food (stores closed).
Without electricity, lights would be affected. This may not seem like a terribly big deal (so it gets dark early and the parrot goes to sleep) but it is important to stock up on battery powered flashlights and resist the temptation to light up candles because fumes may be dangerous.
For an electrical outage my first course of action would be to take the birds over to my parents' house, however, if the outage is for the entire region rather than just a single home, no one might have power. In this case I would have to deal from home with it. During a hot summer blackout, I would put my parrots outside to stay cool rather than indoors. I have an outdoor aviary with a roof so with frequent misting they would be cooler there than indoors. If you don't have an aviary, you might consider taking the birds outside in their cages (but only with supervision). Box fans are a good idea but resist the temptation to use ceiling fans.
For an electrical heating outage in winter, things would be a fair bit more complicated. If the situation makes the likelihood of outage to be more than 24 hours, my first solution would be to pack up the birds and drive out of town and find a hotel room someplace. If the situation were so bad that it's impossible to go anywhere or do anything and I were housebound, I would pitch my camping tent indoors and keep the birds in carriers under many blankets with me. Birds wouldn't do well with cold so conserving/sharing heat is the best solution when there is no energy to provide heat with. Burning things would be out of the question because the fumes would likely be toxic to parrots. I have an electrical stove so that would do me little good. However, if you have a gas stove, you can light it with matches and use that to make some heat. Just be sure to keep the parrots caged during this process and in a well ventilated area.
I would be much less concerned about food for birds because luckily their pellets aren't prone to perish and can be kept for months in a dry place. Since I normally keep the bird food in a cooler anyway, that supply should last me through any trouble. I always keep at least a month of bird food ahead in reserve so that would be no factor. As a fallback to pellets, I would feed my birds cereal and bread. Anything that needs cooking would obviously be a problem but luckily this is unimportant for their survival.
When it comes to evacuating with the birds, I couldn't be more prepared. The parrots' carriers are always ready to go (not only in case of a disaster but also medical emergency). Since the parrots are tame, always step up, and used to travel, grabbing them from their cages and sticking them in carriers would literally be a process that would take seconds. Then I'd grab the bag of pellets from the carrier, bird cage cover sheets, and be ready to go. With more time I could pack some toys and other conveniences but in a real emergency, that's all that would be necessary. I can always find bottled water and let the birds drink out of a paper cup. Pellets can be hand fed or placed on the cage bottom if I didn't have the time to grab food bowls.
Just because my parrots are accustomed to travel doesn't mean other peoples parrots are. This is why I always try to tell everyone to travel with your birds now. Get them used to going into the carrier now, not when there is an emergency and no time to work on it. Practice putting your parrot into the travel carrier when things are stress free. Take your bird on car rides and short outings just for the fun of it. By taking this preemptive approach, you can ensure that you will be prepared to evacuate your birds under any circumstances.
During the actual hurricane, tornado, earthquake, or other scenario, use common sense on keeping parrots safe inside the home. Some people lost parrots during the recent hurricane when windows flew open and birds flew away. If things are that bad, then leave the bird in the cage! Keep cages away from windows and consider putting them in the bathroom (often the sturdiest place in a house). It may also help to throw sheets or blankets over the cage to protect from debris. The only event in which the birds would be worse off in a cage is a flood. If you are on a low level and a flood is taking place, the birds could drown right in their cage. Try to get their cages high or let them loose in the house. If the situation is most severe and your birds are flighted, just open their cages and let them fly away and deal with recovering them later. Don't let your birds be trapped in their cages in a flood or fire.
Finally, if I were unexpectedly stranded home with the birds for some time, I would apply the ideas mentioned above for survival. Like I said, I usually order a new bag of pellets when I'm approaching a month reserve so I doubt the birds would go hungry. But even without pellets, I get them used to eating alternate foods. Cereal is not as good as pellets but similar and will ensure that your parrots don't starve. Some parrots are picky and might not immediately want to eat it. Try it now, see if you can feed your parrot several meals of easy to find human food in case you're in a situation where you had to evacuate birds without time to get their food. I always keep some bottled water for convenience which also serves as an emergency supply. When I travel with my birds, I keep one bottle aside just for them to drink from. I pour the water into a cup and let the birds take turns drinking from it. I never give them water from a bottle I drank directly from because of bacteria.
Hopefully this helps you begin to think about dealing with emergencies and how they could affect your parrots. It is better to be prepared and not need to use it than to be caught by surprise. Given that most natural catastrophes are predictable, try to err on the side of caution and move your family/pets to safety beforehand. If hit by something unexpected, be prepared with supplies and plans. Practice the steps that might relate to dealing with an emergency by traveling with your parrots and exposing them to novel situations, foods, people, and places.
This Thanksgiving, let us be thankful for the conveniences and safety we have while making preparations to ensure that we and our pets can be safe under extraordinary circumstances. Have a wonderful holiday.
I brought Kili and Truman to the Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine for a Bird Wellness check up. I had no reason to suspect their health but I had some questions about their weight and wanted to have a fecal exam to check for parasites (especially since I take them outside a lot).
I had a feeling that Kili was getting too pudgy even before visiting the vet. She had been on freefeed for nearly a month while I was away on two different trips. Since I normally manage the parrots' food, I allow for them to go on freefeed for some length of time to make an adjustment. I let this coincide with when I'm gone because it is convenient and let's them get their molt and hormonal time over with while I'm not there to put up with it.
The issue is that I primarily use behavior as feedback for food management rather than weight. To clarify, I use behavior to establish a target weight rather than just targeting a weight based on a specific percent reduction from freefeed. I'm not recommending this method for others without a more in depth understanding but just going to explain it here so you can see why Kili got so fat. I start the parrot at freefeed and see how motivated it is for training (flight, tricks, etc). Usually this is not very much because it just ate and has no room for any more food. Then I begin progressively reducing food portions while noting motivation increase as demonstrated through performing known behaviors. Once I reach the apex of performance, I target that weight by managing food portions. This worked very well up until now and the birds maintained healthy weights. However, since the last time they were freefed, I never got Kili back down to training/healthy weight. Part of it was that she was molting some critical primary feathers and I didn't want to stunt their growth but the main reason was that her training motivation was sufficient with a higher food intake. Basically she's just gotten so good at the tricks that it takes far less food deprivation to get her motivated to perform. This is why I needed a confirmation from the vet that she was in fact getting fat and not something else. Two alternative theories I had were that I either had overly deprived her before and she never attained healthy weight (probably not) or that she had grown/matured some more since before and belongs at a higher weight. Thus I thought we could use a veterinary consultation. I was also looking for a followup to the scar from her earlier beak puncture.
As for Truman, he had a pelvic fracture some years back and I wanted the vet to check that he has regained full leg motion since. Truman is still a klutz and falls down a lot so I could never tell if he was having trouble or just that way by nature. Also he walks slowly. He'll never run or hop like Kili when he's on the floor. He just slowly waddles over. Once again, I suspect it's a species thing but it was hard to tell if it was any kind of remnant of the injury.
I specifically picked a day when Lorelei Tibbetts would be available. She is the office manager and nurse. She just has the right approach with birds. She's doesn't just minimize the bad experience, she takes the extra step to make it a good experience for the birds. You can immediately tell that she's a bird person in how she approaches and handles the birds. And they can tell that too. Of course they are trained birds but having the right approach is still necessary in order for them to cooperate. Both Kili and Truman will step up for Lorelei and enjoy being held and cuddled. This is really important to me. I would not bring my birds in for an unrequired preemptive wellness visit if it were to stress them out or cause them harm. This is why I didn't get any blood testing.
The vet looked over Truman first. She said he has full range of motion in his legs and they seem fine. She also checked him over and listened to his heart. He wasn't traumatized but he was agitated. He kept growling. Lorelei had to ask Truman to be quiet so that the vet could hear his heart. It was so cute. She would whisper in his ear and give him kisses so he'd be quiet long enough.
Both parrots got their talons dremelled. They have been excruciatingly sharp but I've been putting off cutting them. They have been very sharp yet short so there wouldn't be enough to make a good cut. Since I was already paying for the vet visit I figured I'd let them take care of it. The birds never faced a dremel before so I was worried it would freak them out but it was expertly done and over in no time.
Kili got her belly squeezed from different angles and the vet called her pudgy. I knew she's been a perch-potato lately and a little on the heavy side. I just wasn't sure if I should do anything about it or not (because it hasn't been manifesting itself behaviorally). But the vet confirmed it and told me she'd be better off at a lower weight so Kili's going on a diet to slim down. It shouldn't be difficult to do. I'm going to continue feeding her seeds/nuts as treats for training but I will reduce the morning pellet portion and feed more veggies to her in the evenings (rather than pellets again) so she can fill up without the excess calories/nutrition. And on the other side of it, I'm going to make her fly more. Since she'll be fed less, she should be more motivated. So I'll be going back to working her out in flight on a variable ratio reinforcement schedule. The vet also recommended varying the pellets that I feed them so I may look into that as well.
I'm going to be documenting Kili's weight and training progress for the next few weeks and will report back when we've achieved a healthier weight for her. Even a flighted parrot on a twice daily meal plan can become obese (mainly because of caging and overly rich diet) so just imagine how much worse it is for clipped free fed parrots! Flight is great exercise but they have to use it to benefit from it. I've been letting Kili slack off because she was molting feathers (she was at the point of only having 2 on her bad wing). But now that she's whole and healthy again, we're going to be doing a lot more flight training again. It's so important for parrots to be flight trained and for owners to do this with them regularly because they don't get enough flight simply on their own. Perhaps if they were out to roam the house all day it would suffice. But since we let them out for a limited time and they want to spend that limited time with us, they don't end up flying for more than just getting around. This is where flying recalls and doing tricks really pays off as more than just fun and games but exercise as well!
At the end of the visit, Lorelei took Truman around for a tour of the new clinic (as they recently moved from a few doors down). Here is a video of the new Center for Avian and Exotic Medicine facility:
Kili and Truman's fecal test results came in all clear today. Also Kili's new diet plan is in full swing. I fed her less pellets this morning. Then in the afternoon I took the parrots to the park to fly. I'm putting Kili's higher hunger motivation toward exercise (so it's a double win for her health). I'm not starting them too hard all at once. I had Kili fly 5x long (20ft) recalls and returns. Then Truman flew 5x medium (10ft) recalls and returns. Finally I had Kili fly 5x more medium recalls but from less familiar places around the park. It's a great start considering I had not flown them much more than on the short leash this year. We'll keep working on recalls and flight in coming weeks.
While browsing parrot videos on youtube, I inevitably end up coming across videos pertaining to wing clipping. Believe me, I don't go looking for them, they just seem to find me themselves. I am always surprised by how common and taken for granted wing clipping of companion parrots is. Even more so I am shocked by the ridiculous myths that are circulating regarding it.
I compiled the following video from some of the horrific clips I've seen on youtube (pun intended). I didn't go out of my way looking for the most brutal ones. I think people who have posted them see nothing wrong with it and from the sample I've seen, I think this is pretty representative of how brutally most people clip their parrots.
I have always been a major proponent of keeping companion parrots flighted, however, I have not put all the reasons into a single article until now. I would like to not only demonstrate why it is bad to clip your parrots' wings but also why it's good to keep them flighted. To be fair, I'll also cover some of the challenges owners of flighted parrots should expect. Nonetheless, I think the reasons for keeping parrots flighted far outweigh reasons for clipping.
My personal experience of living with and training parrots spans a clipped parrot, refledged parrot, and a never clipped parrot so I think I am equally qualified to discus any of these stages. So onto the main topic, how to properly trim parrot wings? There is much discussion about whether to clip the primary or secondary feathers. How many feathers should be clipped? Will my parrot hate me if I clip its wings? And many other similar questions. My answer is that the right thing to do is not to clip a parrot's wings in the first place but instead analyze the motives for clipping and then achieve them in less intrusive ways than clipping the wings that are specifically directed at those issues.
Kili was clipped when I first got her. Like most parrot owners, I didn't know any better.
On the other hand Truman was never clipped. It took a great effort to find a breeder capable of this.
Parrots, like virtually all birds, have feathered wings that are used for flight. Millions of years of evolution of the avian and psittacine biology have led to these highly effective flighted bodies. Birds are evolved for flight in many different ways beyond just the wings that are apparent to the uneducated eye. Birds, like their dinosaur ancestors, possess hollow bones, air sacks, and higher metabolisms. These anatomical systems allow for the balance of weight and energy required for flight.
I think most people would agree that it would be cruel to always keep a cat or dog locked up in a small kennel without the chance to walk and run around for exercise. Likewise, even if a parrot isn't always caged but has its wings clipped, it is unable to attain the level of exercise necessary for its physiology. The health of the clipped parrot is as much jeopardized as a human or animal entirely denied of physical exercise. Obesity, cardiological, respiratory, and muscular problems are just some of the issues associated with parrots denied of flight. This is a good time to point out that a clipped parrot and an unclipped, but always caged parrot that has no room to fly, are in practically the same predicament. I will use clipped and unflighted interchangeably to mean parrots that are entirely denied flight whether by clipping, caging, or other means.
In flight, a parrot not only has to perform strenuous contractions of its pectoral muscles for flapping, but also many peripheral muscles for balance and direction. In order to keep up with the intense aerobic respiration necessary to keep those muscles moving, the bird needs to make full use of its heart, lungs, and air sacs. Thus many muscles and organs are used and exercised by a parrot in flight.
The problems of clipping are not only physical but also psychological. Without the rigorous mental stimulation of flight, clipped parrots are more likely to develop behavioral problems such as feather plucking, screaming, and biting. Think about it, an animal with the anatomy and metabolism evolved for flight has way more energy than can be consumed by any means other than flight. In a clipped parrot this unconsumed energy leads to obesity and/or behavioral issues associated with restlessness.
Feather plucking is often (but not exclusively) associated with insufficient mental stimulation, aka boredom. Flying is no less mentally challenging than physically. Believe me on this. Even without being physically strenuous, piloting gliders and airplanes is a mental exercise like no other. After a few hours of flying, I feel like my brain was reinserted after being bounced around in a game of badminton. Flying not only involves thinking about a lot of things quickly but also planning ahead. Our feathered friends have to think where they are going, how to get there, how to navigate obstacles, avoid predators, prepare for landing, calculate the landing, and have backup options in case it doesn't work as planned. That bird brain has to work harder in a few minutes of flight than spending all day with toys, feeding, and tricks. So you see, clipping wings not only causes a physical but also a mental handicap to a parrot.
Clipping a parrot's wings immobilizes a parrot which causes it to depend on humans for transport. People think that's a good thing. They believe that this makes a parrot tamer, more manageable, and like people better. Wrong. Just because the parrot cannot get away from things it dislikes does not make it not dislike them. Screaming and biting can be largely associated to the clipping problem. Parrots have a fight or flight reflex. Really it should be called flight or fight because they will typically opt to fly away than fight. The clipped parrot learns to bite the owner to avoid handling or things it dislikes. A flighted parrot flies away instead. To the lay parrot owner, biting may seem preferable over flight. Hey, at least the biting parrot remains within reach while the flighted parrot can get away. However, with training, flight is more manageable than biting. A parrot will fly where it wants, so if you can just change things such that the parrot wants to fly to you, problem solved. Biting on the other hand is very difficult to undo once it is learned. Once a parrot learns that biting will get it what it wants (to be left alone, not to be put into cage, etc), it is very very difficult and painful to eliminate this. To eliminate learned biting, it is necessary to accept hundreds or thousands of bites to convince the parrot that this will not affect your behavior when it is already convinced that it can.
Screaming is yet another problem that clipping is partly to blame for. The screaming parrot in the cage is a different issue, however, out of cage clipped parrots learn to scream to get the owner's attention. In the case of a flighted parrot that wants to go some place else, it will simply fly over there. However, a clipped parrot placed on a high stand is helpless and cannot go back to its cage for a drink or over to the owner without human attention. Thus the clipped parrot can learn to scream to get the owner to come over to take care of its needs rather than attending to them on its own. Also, to me it seems that parrots are more prone to screaming when they have a lot of energy. After a good flying session they get tired and tend to be a lot quieter.
I am going to present many reasons I have come across for clipping wings and present alternatives.
Clip the parrots wings so that the parrot will love you.
The parrot has no reason to love you whether you clip its wings or not. It probably has even more reason not to if you're so selfish that you want to cause such an atrocious physical and mental handicap. The best way to achieve a parrot's love is to do things that it likes (or train it to like things it may not naturally like) and treat it with respect. By treating a parrot in ways that it likes ensures that it will want to fly to you and be around you. You cannot force your pet to like you, you have to earn it. Not clipping the wings provides the most genuine feedback. If your parrot regularly comes to you, you know it really wants to be with you and not because it is forced.
Clipping wings is necessary for the parrots own safety.
This is the biggest load of bull I have to listen to from all over the place experts and beginners alike! First of all, I don't think anyone truly believes this and that it's just a cover up for other selfish reasons. But I will for the moment assume that people really think this and go line by line dispelling this fundamental myth of parrot ownership. Rather than addressing this classic line, I'm going to break it down to specific safety concerns that clipping is purported to address.
I clip my parrot's wings so that it doesn't fly away when I take it outside.
Many people who have never once seen their parrot fly indoors have been shocked to see their clipped parrot flying away outside. There are several reasons why clipped parrots magically seem to be able to takeoff outdoors. Wing clipping normally involves cutting the tips of several primary feathers. The primary feathers are a bird's means of propulsion moreso than lift. Primary feathers are more akin to a propeller than a wing on an airplane. Without thrust, a parrot cannot fly up or straight. However, it can still glide on its remaining secondaries and wing surface area. While the clipped parrot cannot glide or control its flight as well as an unclipped one, it is still able to do this to an extent. Indoors this usually means that a parrot can only fly a limited distance. Outdoors, there are three elements that can cause a clipped parrot to fly beyond any capability observed indoors. The adenaline rush of a major startle could give the parrot strength to flap harder than usual and overcome some clipping. Wind is the biggest cause of clipped parrots becoming able to fly outdoors. Wind replaces thrust as the source of air moving over the wing surface initially for a clipped parrot becoming airborne. By taking off into a headwind gradient, dynamic soaring occurs where additional lift is gained by increasing winds. Also winds can be deflected upward by trees and buildings, creating even more of an upward push. Worse yet, the wind drifts the parrot across a large distance, but being clipped it lacks experience or control to solve this. The parrot could end up in a tree, fall into water and drown, or get hit by a car. Don't be complacent and think that this is only a problem on windy days. Thermals can form without wind and suck the helpless parrot upward should it take flight. People have been shocked by how high or far their clipped parrot has ended up when it unexpectedly took flight outside. Whether clipped or not, companion parrots should be properly caged or restrained when taken outdoors.
It is necessary to clip parrot wings so they cannot fly out of doors and windows.
Once again, even a clipped parrot has some flight and gliding capability. Sometimes it is just enough for something terrible to happen. This is why rather than using clipping (which isn't foolproof for preventing fly outs), it is important to solve this by keeping windows/doors closed while the parrot is out. Whenever doors or windows need to be opened, the parrot should be away in its cage. This is the only way to guarantee its safety.
Parrots should be clipped to prevent them from falling into toilets, sinks, and other sources of water.
I hear this all the time, yet it makes absolutely no sense. A clipped parrot is more likely to "fall in" by accident without escape than a flighted parrot. A flighted parrot can control its flight so most likely would not be in danger of this situation. I can tell you from personal experience that my parrots have never gone into sinks/toilets even when possible. They are scared and uninterested in them. They are less likely to fall into them than a scared clipped parrot without control of its flight. There still exists the possibility of doing it out of curiosity which really can apply to any parrot. Clipping wings is no guarantee that the parrot doesn't end up in the bathroom. Keeping toilet seats closed or better yet bathroom doors closed solves this danger without clipping parrot's wings.
Parrots need to be clipped or they can fall into a boiling pot of water while cooking.
I see absolutely no good reason for a parrot (or any pet) to be out during cooking. Besides boiling water, cooking usually involves knives, fumes, and other things that can be dangerous to any any parrot. The one and only case I have heard of a parrot falling into a boiling pot of water was a clipped parrot though. Parrots should be put away and attention given toward cooking. But if we're going to talk about theoretically who is safer, it's probably the flighted parrot as it can fly away. A clipped parrot fell off someone's shoulder once and landed right in the pot. Once again, clipping is not a solution at all (and possibly a greater threat). Common sense and safety precautions must prevail.
Parrots must have their wings clipped or they will fly into walls/windows and break their neck.
This myth I have only ever heard professed by people who have always clipped their parrot's wings. My parrots fly around the house and I don't have this problem and nor does anyone else I know with flighted parrots. If anything, it's the clipped parrots that end up crashing into things when they gain a few feathers without practice or experience using them. I guess owners take this as proof that parrots can't be trusted to fly and go right back to clipping them without even giving them a chance to get better. My parrots did take some harmless bumps while learning to fly but have practically never crashed again since then. Once a parrot is a capable flier, it can think on the fly and avoid walls and windows. As an extra precaution it is good to keep windows shaded, however, once parrots learn about windows they can fly in such rooms without knocking into them.
Parrots can become victims of other pets (cats/dogs) if they aren't clipped.
Parrots are at risk around other animals whether clipped or not, period. Despite people's hopes and desires of keeping both in harmony, parrots just are not compatible with carnivorous pets who instinctively see them as prey. Clipping may actually put a parrot at greater risk of not being able to fly away but keeping them flighted does not save them either. I have heard of more cases of parrots being killed by cats/dogs than most other kinds of accidents combined. Don't look for excuses, don't think if it hasn't happened that it can't, don't add a parrot to a household with a cat/dog/ferret, don't add a cat/dog/ferret to a household with a parrot. This really is a case of choosing one or the other (or keeping them entirely apart, like dog outside).
If I don't clip my parrot, it won't stay on its perch.
Well duh! Neither would you. Naturally a parrot wants to move around, explore, and do different things. No matter how much food, toys, and exciting things you put on the perch, it's not enough to keep a parrot sufficiently mentally stimulated. Of course when it is unsafe or impractical for the parrot to roam your home, it should be in the cage. However, for the time it is out, it deserves to have some freedom getting around. I don't know why people think it is fair for a cat/dog to roam a house all day long but that a parrot should be clipped and sit on/in it's cage 24/7. If clipping is the only thing that it is keeping it in one place, then you can imagine mentally how much it is missing out on when it can't go anywhere.
I don't want my parrot pooping all over the place so it is best to clip the wings.
This practically is not an issue for a potty trained flighted parrot. Almost all of the time my parrots fly back to their perch to poop. In fact this may be cleaner than a clipped parrot that just goes wherever it is because it doesn't have the option to fly to its designated pooping location (such as when it is on the owner).
If my parrot could fly, it won't want me to put it back in its cage and fly away.
The root of the problem would exist regardless if the parrot is clipped or not if it does not want to go back into the cage. The flighted parrot would fly away, the clipped parrot would bite. Either way, something is not right and you would be hurting your relationship with the parrot by forcing it. Instead of clipping (or forcing), use training and feeding schedules to make it such that your parrot wants to go back into the cage and it's like you're doing it a favor.
If my parrot could fly, I wouldn't be able to put it away in the cage as punishment.
Sure shows what a bad idea it is to use the cage as punishment? Most likely it just encourages more biting anyway so it's for the better not to do this in the first place.
Clipping parrots' wings does not hurt them
It is true that the actual scissor to feather aspect of clipping wings does not hurt them. Many times parrots are hurt in the grooming process but even that can be done gently enough (or even trained to participate in) that this may not hurt. However, the parrot is likely hurt in other physical and psychological ways. Its health is hurt by the lack of exercise, it's mind is hurt by helplessness, and it's body is actually hurt when it falls down. Often times clipping is done severely on purpose not only so that the parrot couldn't fly but also so it would be self-punishing to even try. This can lead to bruised or fractured legs and sternums.
Flighted parrots can get killed flying into ceiling fans.
Yes, they can. I don't know what parrot owner in their right mind keeps those things around. If not entirely remove it, I would at least suggest disabling the wiring so it can't be turned on by accident. There are plenty of alternatives like closed box fans, air conditioners, and those new bladeless fans. It's a reasonable enough sacrifice to make for the safety of your pet and not a good excuse for keeping them grounded. I hate to think anyone is choosing a fan over their pet and if they are I really pity the way they must treat it in other regards.
Flighted parrots just end up in the cage all day.
This isn't true or at least doesn't have to be. Or rather it should be the same as with clipped parrots. Even clipped parrots require supervision when they are out of the cage. After some time they will get bored of staying on the same perch (as would a flighted parrot that might just fly over to another) and begin to scream for attention, hop off, or find other ways of driving the owner nuts. I think it is just in the parrot's nature to get bored of things and want to explore so clipped or not, the amount of time the owner can tolerate them being out shouldn't change too much when going from clipped to flighted. Some just have more patience for these things than others. However, during the transition stage things can fall out of balance which usually encourages people to go back to clipping. The time when a parrot is figuring out what it can do with its wings isn't necessarily representative and you have to move past it to get to a truly flighted parrot. My parrots get about the same amount of time out of the cage as they did when they were clipped (some of them). It is limited moreso by my schedule than anything else but when I do spend all day at home, I still keep their out of cage schedule similar to what they should normally expect.
Clip a parrot in the beginning and let it fly later.
Some folks on the edge of encouraging flighted parrots still suggest an early clip (including breeders that fledge and have flighted parrots). The most popular time to clip (weenling coming home) is probably the worst time to do it. Developing parrots need to learn flight and how to appropriately use it in the human environment during this stage more than ever. They learn quickly and get hurt less because their bones are still flexible. This is like a toddler learning to walk. Not being able to fly in this critical stage may cause some permanent physical and mental abnormalities. The parrot that got to fly throughout its first year will have an advantage over the one that didn't down the line. Most importantly, this is the most pointless time to clip a parrot because the just hand raised fledgling is eager to go to people and eager to learn. This is the best opportunity to teach it life in the human household while still having its unquestioned trust.
A partial trim is a good intermediate compromise.
Some people suggest cutting just 2-4 primaries so that the parrot retains a level of flight but flies less. I don't like this idea because it seems the parrot would have to flap disproportionately hard to stay airborne and cause stress to its wings and system. It is definitely more natural to be flying with full feathers. If the owner is ok enough with the parrot to be mostly flighted, then clearly flight safety precautions have been made so there really isn't much reason not to just go all the way. Parrots will get into mischief no matter what so you may as well accept that there is no magic solution and it's part of who they are and what we like about them.
Exceptions
I know people are going to come up with some specific exceptions and try to argue that it's ok to clip all parrots on the basis of these rare ones so I'll just bring up some cases where clipping may be inevitable. Some parrots will be born with deformities or develop certain injuries throughout their life that may prevent them from safe flight so these cases should be left up to the vet. Parrot rescues are overwhelmed with other people's unwanted parrots and it is often impossible or dangerous to keep them flighted. Under the circumstances those parrots are already getting the best they can expect considering the situations they are coming from. Still, rescues should strive to home out those parrots to friendly homes where they can be kept in their natural flighted state. However, with such an overwhelming number of birds being displaced, they often have to do whatever they can for minimal survival for these unfortunately unwanted animals. I cannot blame the rescues. It's the people who screwed up the parrots to begin with that are at fault.
Then there will be animal hoarders who just want to collect as many different parrots or animals as possible. They can't keep parrots flighted amidst a household zoo of animals. The problems here lie far deeper than just clipping vs flight so I'm not going to get into them. The only point I have to make is that people shouldn't mix parrots with incompatible animals and shouldn't acquire more animals than they can provide outstanding living conditions for. Likewise there are circumstances of children owning parrots that want to keep them flighted but the parents do not allow them. I don't know what the parents were thinking allowing them to get a bird in the first place then but another reason why I don't recommend parrots for children until they are in complete control of their circumstances.
There will also be some circumstances where people bought and kept a parrot clipped for a long time and are considering flight. Yet their household and circumstances truly prevent them from keeping them flighted no matter how much they would like to. Again, it is still worthwhile to try to go as far as possible in preparation for having the parrot flighted, brainstorm with other people what can be done, etc. But, there will be times that it is still not possible to go that final step. However, this is not justification for most people not to try or make excuses. Everyone thinks they can't do it but most often it is because they haven't tried or haven't tried long enough. I simply cannot believe that such a vast number of parrots have to be clipped by extreme household circumstances. Just because exceptions may exist does not mean we shouldn't all strive not to have to be them.
Conclusion
Now I'd like to go over some of the challenges. Flighted parrots do require some training, vigilance, and bird proofing. However, none of these concepts should be unfamiliar to owners that clip. If they are, they are probably going about parrot ownership in the wrong way. The vast majority of bird proofing should already be in place regardless if the parrot can fly or not (such as avoiding teflon, closing doors, closing windows, not cooking with parrot out, etc). Just the finishing touches and supervision are all that's needed beyond that. Even clipped parrots can end up on the floor and electrocuted while chewing a cord so owner vigilance is required either way. And finally training. Even clipped parrots must be taught basics like step up, targeting, and being held. Adding flight recall is just once further step and really the culmination of the other skills. It should almost come naturally if you can provide the parrot the necessary motivation to be around you. There are plenty of minute details and perfections to flighted ownership that I won't get into here because I have discussed them before and throughout. Accepting these challenges should just be a natural part of bird ownership. If owners genuinely care about their companion parrots, the benefit of knowing how much better off your parrot is far outweighs the extra effort in keeping them flighted.
Many people resist keeping flighted parrots. I'm not completely sure why but my guess is that they mainly fall in two categories: people who simply don't know/realize that keeping parrots flighted is safe and possible, and people who just don't care about their parrot. I think the sad reality is that most people who clip their parrots fall into the second category. Whether it's because they prize their possessions more than their pets or because they just selfishly want a decorative talking animal that doesn't get in the way... I really pity their parrots and find it a total shame that they acquire them in the first place. These people will resist, make excuses, distract, and ignore good reasoning. But they won't have the guts to admit that it's their fault and they are to blame and not the parrot. I cannot change their minds. But for everyone else who clips their parrots and is reading this article, please take these reasons into consideration. Don't take this decision lightly. Think it trough and seek help of others. Please feel free to discuss this and your specific case on the parrot forum. Think it over. Work in little steps toward making your parrot flighted. Even if you don't think you can achieve it 100%, just taking the steps to bird proof as much as possible, use harnesses outside, using flighted precautions, etc will at least ensure more safety for even the clipped parrot. Then all that will be left is figuring out the last few unique issues to getting your parrot safely flighted. There is always a solution. The only question is if it's worth it to you?
Finally I would like to end this article by expressing just how truly remarkable it is to have flighted parrots. This is a large part of the reason I chose to have birds. It is just absolutely thrilling to watch them effortlessly get around on their wings or feel the breeze as they swoop right over my head. We should appreciate, marvel, and envy their flight and not take it into our hands to be taking it away from them. Here's a video of my parrots in flight.
Note all the flights in the video are trained/cued flights and it may seem like that's the only kind of flying my parrots do. This isn't true. They do fly at will or on cue to me outside of training sessions or just where they want to go. It's just very difficult to capture because it is spontaneous. The only way to reliably demonstrate their flight to an audience is when it is on cue. But rest assured they do fly as they wish at other times.
What treats are you giving your parrot for tricks is the question I am asked time and time again. I'm not sure why people are so fascinated by this. Perhaps they think I have invented some special magic treat that has the power to make my parrots succumb to my commands. I am always a bit reluctant to answer this because the treats I use may not be successful or even healthy for other parrots. People assume that if they would use the same treat that I use, they might achieve better success training their parrot but this may not be the case. So really this question should be split into two distinct questions:
What treats do you use to train Kili & Truman?
What treats should I use to train my parrot or parakeet?
Before I answer the first one, I'm going to explain the answer to the second instead. I don't want people to fixate too much on what treats I use because they may not work for a different parrot. So instead I'm going to teach you how to choose treats for your parrot instead. I will start by categorizing parrots into two categories:
A) Small parrots and parakeets (Budgerigar, Cockatiel, Green Cheeked Conure, Parrotlet, Lovebird, etc). B) Most other parrots (Senegal Parrot, Sun Conure, African Grey, Cockatoo, Amazon, Macaw)
I'm leaving out parrots with specialty diets (Lorikeets, Eclectus, and others) because what they consume as a treat may be more species specific and really up to the research of the owner to understand their diets. So for most parakeets and small parrots selecting a treat is actually really easy: millet spray. Budgies, Cockatiels, and other tiny parrots just go bonkers for that stuff. The seeds are nice and small but so are their beaks so its a match made in heaven. These birds have rapid metabolisms so it's not much time until they are ready to have some more. Most of the time withholding their normal in the cage food for 3 hours should lead to sufficient motivation for training for millet spray.
Millet Spray is a very effective trick training treat for Cockatiels, Budgies, and other parakeets
Millet spray has its pros and cons as a treat. A really good aspect is that the individual seeds are very small and not that filling unless eaten in large number. You can vary the value of the reward by the amount of time you give the parrot the opportunity to nibble on the millet seeds. A very good job could be rewarded for 5 seconds of nibbling on millet while a normal reward may be just a bite of a seed or two to maintain hunger for more training. Another benefit that is great for beginner trainers or new birds is that you can vary the length of the stick of millet you use. Normally millet spray is sold in long strands. Use a scissor to cut off anywhere from 1-6 inches from the end. In the beginning a longer stick may give enough buffer between trainer and parakeet to give both the confidence they need to interact (parakeet that it won't get harmed and trainer that he won't get bit). When you are really proficient at training, breaking off a single ball of millet will work to your advantage because you can hide it from sight when the bird needs to focus on the task at hand rather than the lure.
You can hold a stick of Millet Spray to maintain adequate distance from your parakeet
The main downside of millet spray is that it is very messy. Little seeds and husks will shed like the falls of Niagra. This is bad twice over. Not only will it make a mess requiring cleanup but it will also distract the parrot while it tries to pickup seeds off the surface rather than train. Keeping a handheld battery powered vacuum and using it frequently is a must if your parrot is not sitting on a tall training perch away from the surface. Always make sure that the millet spray you are using is fresh because it does spoil if sitting too long. Lastly, if it isn't already obvious, don't put millet spray into the parrots cage so that you can maintain it as a trick training treat. If it eats it in abundance in the cage, it won't work as hard to earn it in training. Virtually all parakeets are introduced to millet spray from the store/breeder but if yours really has no clue what it is, then leave it in the cage initially until it is eating it with confidence. But once it is familiar, only use it as a treat. There may be some other treats you can use for small parrots and parakeets so consider some of the following advice for larger parrots as well.
Now onto treats for most other parrots. The thing is, parrots come in so many different species and are such complex creatures that no single treat is universal. This is why I suggest a method for establishing treats for each individual parrot rather than suggesting a specific food. First off, it is important to realize that many parrots have not tasted all possible foods that could be treats. So if the breeder, store, or past owner had never offered a certain food to a parrot, it won't know that it wants it. Don't be surprised that offering an almond or sunflower seed to a new parrot brings no response. People think that by giving their parrot the same things I give mine they will earn its trust but it is completely possible that the parrot doesn't even know what that food is!
Before you can even discover what treats will be effective for your parrot, you have to begin by giving it a chance to taste each one and evaluate what it likes. The easiest way of doing this is to offer lots of different foods in the parrots cage for a few days/weeks. You don't want to overload it with treats to sample or it won't eat anything healthy so a good way of doing this is to feed it a normal healthy diet and only when it finished eating to put in a few treats to try (and offer different ones each day). At the end of this article I will mention what treats I use for my parrots so you can use those as a starting point of things to try. But short of chocolate (including chocolate chip cookies and anything containing it), avocado, coffee, alcohol, and anything toxic to humans, most foods can be tested as treats. You may be surprised at what they like. Just bare in mind that the unhealthier the food, the less often you should offer it as a treat no matter how much the parrot likes it. If you're looking for advice on getting an already tame parrot to taste new foods that it may not want to try (but you think it would like), take a look at how I taught my parrots to eat pineapple.
Nuts and Seeds are a good starting point as treats for training parrots
In the beginning a parrot may not eaten certain foods but don't automatically assume it doesn't like them. It may just be scared of them. Only if it rejects them consistently while favoring other foods is it a good indicator that this is not a suitable treat. Don't rule out trying these foods again some time down the line if you think they are good treats because sometimes a parrot will start to like something it didn't before. Once the introduction of various foods is complete (or at least under way), you can begin to observe which foods are the favorite when offered together with others. Let's say you want to see whether your parrot likes banana, sunflower seeds, or almonds the best. Put a few little pieces of banana, couple sunflower seeds, and couple pieces of almond in the same bowl. Put this in the parrots cage (or offer from your hand if it is already tame) to see which ones it eats first. If there is an evident pattern (for example eats all banana pieces first, then sunflower seeds, and leaves all almonds), then it is likely that is the order of preference the parrot likes those treats. If it eats them randomly, then either it likes them all about evenly or hasn't developed stronger preferences yet. If there is a pecking order of preference for treats, keep it in mind and use the most favorite treats more sparingly as a super reward for break throughs in training.
There are two ways to use variety of treats to your advantage. Either use a complete variety in each training session starting from the least preferred treats in the beginning to the most preferred treats at the end or use the same treat the entire training session but change treats between training sessions. There is an advantage to each of these methods. By using a variety of treats in a single training session, you can maintain motivation longer by improving treats as the parrot becomes less hungry, more tired, and hopefully improving behavior. On the other hand by using a different treat each day you can save on effort/waste (cutting up 10 different fruits could be costly and ineffective for every training session). Since it may be a week or more since the parrot got to have that kind of treat, it will be motivated to train for that taste/nutrient even if it isn't as hungry or the best treat. I have definitely noticed with my parrots that by bringing out a treat that hasn't been used in a long time, that they will work harder for it even if they weren't made as hungry by food management.
Establishing treats for parrots depends as much on what you don't give as what you do as part of the normal diet. By not serving things perceived as treats in the cage as part of meals, you improve the desirability of treats for training sessions. However, since treats only account for 5-20% of the parrot's daily meals, the blander cage food should still remain desirable. Besides the health benefits of getting a parrot off of a seed and onto a pellet diet, training is another great reason to do this. If a parrot is eating seeds in the cage all day, good luck trying to get it motivated to train for seeds. If there is no way you can get that parrot onto a pellet diet, the least you can do is to go through its daily rations and pick out every single favorite seed and put them aside for training and only feed secondary seeds in the cage. Ideally though, a healthy pellet diet will both balance the less healthy treats you give and make them that much more desirable. I limit cage food to pellets and vegetables only. Everything else I use as treats both for nutritional balance and training reinforcement. This works very well because it ensures the parrots don't get too much of what they don't need and I get all the credit for the pleasure of those foods.
Foods you eat yourself can often be as motivating as treats specifically for parrots
Without getting too much into food management, I want to point out that if a parrot is hungry, even ordinary cage food can be rewarding for training. How hungry the bird is will play a large part in how hard it will work for certain foods. It is requisite that the parrot at least be slightly hungry to work for any kind of treats. Imagine having such a big meal that there's just no room for desert no matter how good it is. Well don't train your parrot in that kind of state. Once again, without getting into advanced food management, the very least you gotta do is train the parrot before it goes over to the food to eat. You can safely remove the food from the cage for 3-6 hours prior to training for any kind of parrot, do the training with treats, then put the parrot back into the cage to complete its meal. So my point is that if you can't come up with any treat that is better than what the parrot already eats as its staple diet, it can be used as a treat with sufficient hunger. On the other hand, no matter how good a treat is, it won't be effective for repetitious training if the parrot is not hungry at all.
Keep in mind that as your parrot discovers new foods, times change, and hormonal changes occur, effectiveness of treats may vary. For example going into winter and declining in home temperatures, more fatty treats may be most desired while going into summer sugary things may become preferred. Pay attention to this by checking the vigor with which the parrot eats certain treats or which treats it is willing to work for.
Lately I have been finding that for continued training (but not necessarily for initial training) just using a treat that hasn't been used in a while can be sufficient motivation instead of more aggressive food management. How much the parrot desires the taste of a specific treat vs how hungry it is for eating anything are important factors in training. I would suggest sticking to the favorite treat method (as long as parrot is hungry enough that it would like to eat) unless greater motivation is required for more advanced training behavior. Remember that motivation/hunger is only one side of training. Just because a parrot isn't learning a new trick does not necessarily indicate that it is not hungry or doesn't want the treat. The parrot may be distracted or just doesn't understand what you want. You can test motivation by cuing an already known trick to compare. If the parrot eagerly performs other tricks then motivation is not the issue.
As the parrot becomes more accustomed to the treats and the concept of training, try to use smaller and smaller treats. This increases the value of each treat and prolongs the amount of motivation you can get out of every training session. While at first you may be giving an entire almond or slice of apple, eventually you should be able to cut these into bite sized pieces. Not only will you save on time between tricks for eating, but you will be able to get more repetitions for the same amount of food. A good indicator of size is a treat that the parrot does not need to life its foot to chew. If it can swallow the treat in one piece, you are ready to continue immediately. Unfortunately seeds can't be broken down and the parrot will take more time to work on it.
Now onto the question that is on everybody's mind, what treats do I use for my parrots? I will break this down to 4 parrots (2 deceased) and ballpark order the treats based on effectiveness as motivators for training.
Kili - Female Senegal Parrot Sunflower Seeds Apple Banana Saflower Seeds Walnut pieces Peanut pieces Almond pieces Oatmeal Grape Pasta Popcorn Dried Corn Other Seeds Pellets
Truman - Male Cape Parrot Almonds (especially whole) Walnut Pecan Mango Grape Apple Pineapple Peach Banana Sunflower Seeds Corn Pasta Popcorn Pellets Other Seeds
There may be some other foods I did not mention but they do not play as major of a role in training as the above foods do. Sometimes the chance to taste a table food never tasted before can go a long way. I don't like using manufactured treats like newtriberries and other things. First of all they are way too big, the parrot will fill very quickly on one or two of these treats. Further they mix everything together. I can get a lot more effectiveness from dividing up the effective ingredients and offering them as treats individually. Don't forget that not all rewards must be food. Toys, scratches, attention, shoulder time, or getting to check out what you're doing can all be used as effective rewards for behaviors such as recall. For more basic information about how to begin taming and training a parrot, refer to my taming article.
Kili and Truman enjoy getting a whole nut for a job well done
As a trainer I really like to use nuts and seeds as treats. They are easy, don't spoil quickly, and highly motivating. The good thing about seeds is that you can easily buy a mix cheap and eating it as a complete experience for the parrot. I think they enjoy breaking them out of the shell as much as the taste. However, they may take a while to work on and leave a mess of husks. This is why my favorite treat to use for training is nuts. I'll crack an almond, walnut, or peanut and keep the nut between my fingers. Then I break off pieces prior to each reward depending on how much I want to give. I can freely walk around without having to return for more treats. The birds can eat it without dropping anything or making a mess. I break the pieces small enough that they usually swallow it in a single bite and are ready to continue training. However, by using a treat I'm normally too lazy to use (fruits or stuff I'm eating), I can sometimes get unbelievable boosts of motivation. Perhaps I won't get as many repetitions as a normal training session but I think it helps lock the behavior in as more memorable for the awesomeness of the treat it earned like a whole kernel of popcorn. But I never give my parrots food "just because." They need to know that getting special treats depends on their good behavior. So at the very least I recall them over or have them do a trick for the special food.
No, I didn't misplace Truman for a Turkey! I just had to fatten him up a little and Kili could use some stuffing. I laid out the biggest variety of yummy foods the parrots ever got in a single meal. They both went straight for the nuts the moment I placed them on the table. No doubt that is their number one most favorite food. Then Kili sampled the mixed veggies and snuck away pieces of Truman's Brazilian nut cause she couldn't crack her almond. The parrots played with bits of pasta while trying a bit of everything.
While Kili devoured a big piece of banana, Truman nibbled some pellets. Kili did not touch a single pellet though. She's more of a vegetarian where she'll go for fresh veggies and fruits any day. Truman on the other hand is more of a nut and pellet kinda guy. He skipped most of the greens and went straight to his pellets. Before long, both their crops were visibly bulging out of their necks.
The parrot duo engaged in the tradition of sharing by putting aside their differences and enjoying their meal side by side. Neither attacked the other or caused any trouble. But you can see in the video that they were still a little cautious around each other. As long as there's plenty of food to go around, it's every bird for himself! Happy Thanksgiving.
Check out the video of Kili and Truman's Thanksgiving Day meal and then leave a comment about what your parrots got for Thanksgiving.
Trained Parrot is a blog about how to train tricks to all parrots and parakeets. Read about how I teach tricks to Truman the Brown Necked Cape Parrot including flight recall, shake, wave, nod, turn around, fetch, wings, and play dead. Learn how you can train tricks to your Parrot, Parrotlet, Parakeet, Lovebird, Cockatiel, Conure, African Grey, Amazon, Cockatoo or Macaw. This blog is better than books or DVDs because the information is real, live, and completely free of charge. If you want to know how to teach your parrot tricks then you will enjoy this free parrot training tutorial.
Trained Parrot site content Copyright 2010-2020 Michael Sazhin. Reproduction of text, images, or videos without prior permission prohibited. All rights reserved.
Older Articles 
Newer Articles