Do you clip your bird's wings? (lovebirds, tame, cockatiels, parrot)

[Slithytoves]

I'm sure this question has been asked before, but not in a while and there are always new members coming along.

If you clip, why? If not, why?

I had a cockatiel that I bought clipped as a baby and kept him clipped all his life because of his tendency to get into trouble. He never knew any better, and at the time neither did I, and he appeared happy as can be and lived a long and healthy life for his species.

I have another bird now, a Senegal parrot, who has has to be clipped temporarily for the first time in his 8 months of life. It was sad to watch his initial confusion and it has made him less confident and less social. This clip is a one-time thing but I will never do it again if it can be avoided. Having seen a pet bird in flight and the difference in the same bird after clipping confirmed my feeling that there is no reason good enough for me to clip a bird's wings. I don't judge people who do it, though. Just want to hear what people have to say.

[dontaskwhy]

I have raised various birds for over 30 years and strongly believe that cliping is the correct thing. I have seen/heard of far too many stories of folks having their birds fly off, never to be seen again or birds flying into windows or fans and seriously injuring or killing them.

[swagger]

I don't clip my CAG. I'm exceptionally careful about doors being opened while he's out, etc., and we have a dog and cat that would likely hurt him (the dog would just want to play, but 80lbs of dog is dangerous to a bird!), so I want him to have an avenue of escape should he get out while the other animals are around.

My mom has a green cheek conure, which I make her clip. She has a tendency to forget that he's on her shoulder when she walks outside, and once something spooked him and he took off. That prompted a five hour drive for me that night and $80 in color flyers at Kinkos to post around the neighborhood.

As we were posting the flyers, we were calling for him, and we heard him respond! Spotted him at the top of a very tall juniper. I spent half the day on top of a stranger's motorhome (with permission) trying to coax him to fly to me, but he was too scared. He was 10 feet away from me for hours, and I couldn't get to him. It was terrible. He moved back in the juniper and we lost sight of him, although we could still hear him. As it got dark, we had no choice but to give up. It was heart wrenching having to walk away from him, but there was nothing left to do.

I had to get back home that night, and we thought he was gone for good. It was horrible.

The next day, I got a call from my mom: "Bob's back!"

He ended up a couple blocks over, on top of someone's shed. They saw him and recognized him from one of the flyers. My mom rushed over and with a little coaxing, he flew right to her. It was an awesome feeling knowing that he made it back home safely.

[beera]

I do and don't. My girl bird is very good, never been clipped since I got her (she came clipped).

BUT she did escape one time when we were staying with my mom, luckily she didn't fly far and we got her.

My boy bird right now, he's had issue with being aggressive, so we clipped his wings to make him rely more on us and be re-trained. That was months ago, his wings are coming back now and he's flying around the house again, so far the training seems to have worked.

We did have an issue once also with him getting out.

For some reason for a while anytime someone opened the door they'd fly to it. So glad we aren't there anymore! Now we live in a place with two front doors so this is not a problem anymore.

If you can avoid clipping IMO it's healthier for the bird.

[TheotherMarie]

We used to have cockatiels. When we got them, their wings were clipped. The male's wings were clipped so poorly that when he tried to fly, he just dropped. We were so afraid he was going to hurt himself that we kept him on the floor whenever he was out of his cage. We let their wings grow out and never had them clipped again. The vet was annoyed that they could fly, but we didn't care.
Eventually, they had their own bedroom and spent their entire day cage free. At night, they took themselves to bed in their cage, which was left open.
In the morning, we'd go in there to clean up their room and give them fresh food and water, and they'd already be up and about. It was really lovely.

[Travelassie]

Originally Posted by Slithytoves

I'm sure this question has been asked before, but not in a while and there are always new members coming along.

If you clip, why? If not, why?

I had a cockatiel that I bought clipped as a baby and kept him clipped all his life because of his tendency to get into trouble. He never knew any better, and at the time neither did I, and he appeared happy as can be and lived a long and healthy life for his species.

I have another bird now, a Senegal parrot, who has has to be clipped temporarily for the first time in his 8 months of life. It was sad to watch his initial confusion and it has made him less confident and less social. This clip is a one-time thing but I will never do it again if it can be avoided. Having seen a pet bird in flight and the difference in the same bird after clipping confirmed my feeling that there is no reason good enough for me to clip a bird's wings. I don't judge people who do it, though. Just want to hear what people have to say.

We have three pet birds, and two of them don't have their wings clipped. Our 25 year old cockatiel can fly, but he does it only to take a spin around our great room, or to get to a favorite human when he wants to. Other than that he spends most of his time on top of his cage on his playground, or on a favorite perch we attached to the outside of his cage. I feel as though it's not necessary to clip his wings, and he hasn't had them clipped for probably 10-12 years now.

We also have a female Pacific parrotlet who's a little over a year old, and we don't clip her wings either. She uses her flying ability pretty much for transportation, again, flying to a favorite human or spot, she also wants to be where her humans are. She'll fly for the sheer joy of flying, swooping over our heads, as she lands nearby so she can check out what's happening, or to get something to eat. I guess in a nutshell, it doesn't seem as though her flying gets her into trouble, and she's so sweet I don't think clipping her wings would do anything but depress her.

The only bird we try to keep clipped enough to somewhat limit his flying is our peachface lovebird, who seems to be much sweeter and manageable when he can't fly anywhere and everywhere he wants. The guy who clips his wings does such a great job- the lovie can still fly short distances to get where he wants, but he can't achieve the height which allows him to get onto ledges and ceiling fans ( or into things we're working on but don't need his help- like cooking) and FAST before anyone realizes he's done it. We feel kind of bad clipping his wings, so he gets extra cuddles and transportation to where he wants to go- except those high ceiling fans and the toaster oven or frying pan.

We've had birds forever, so have tried to "bird-proof" as much as possible and don't often open the front door to go out, we go out the garage side door instead.

[legal_eagle]

I like to clip the wings once or twice to tame them, and then when the wings grow out and the bird is mature it will usually fly to you quite readily.

[Enigma777]

Originally Posted by Slithytoves

I'm sure this question has been asked before, but not in a while and there are always new members coming along.

If you clip, why? If not, why?

We have lovebirds and have always clipped their wings for their own safety. There are too many accidents waiting to happen for housebound birds. The tragic stories I have heard are--birds: flying into ceiling fans, flying into hot burners or boiling pots on the stove, flying into a toilet, flying into a window, flying out the window, being sat or stepped on. My bird was once on my shoulder and I walked onto the lanai and she flew right into the pool (I jumped in fully clothed and got her). We've had a lot of birds and never lost one to an accident. I also notice the birds are much less aggressive when clipped.

[Slithytoves]

Originally Posted by Enigma777

We have lovebirds and have always clipped their wings for their own safety. There are too many accidents waiting to happen for housebound birds. The tragic stories I have heard are--birds: flying into ceiling fans, flying into hot burners or boiling pots on the stove, flying into a toilet, flying into a window, flying out the window, being sat or stepped on. My bird was once on my shoulder and I walked onto the lanai and she flew right into the pool (I jumped in fully clothed and got her). We've had a lot of birds and never lost one to an accident. I also notice the birds are much less aggressive when clipped.

My Senegal landed on a hot burner the first week he could fly. Luckily he barely touched down before the pain made him fly off, so he healed quickly. My vet said he's heard of birds going up in flames and has had to euthanize birds whose feet melted to the burner. I knew this before I got my Senegal and had a burner cover to prevent this, but I bumped the cover with a pot and my bird saw the orange glow and wanted to check it out. Awful. I felt like the worst pet owner ever.

I also know of a toddler who flushed her brother's budgie down the toilet. *shiver*. Enough of this.

My Senegal has adapted to his clip, and I've decided to keep clipping. He is easier to handle and I have seen positive changes in his temperament. I'll just have to keep an eye on his weight.

I was on a parrot owner forum that condemned people for clipping and it made me feel guilty, but my bird seems very happy clipped and it sure keeps him out of trouble.

[dontaskwhy]

Thank for a rational, thought out response to those who feel clipping is cruel. I made my thoughts clear earlier and I agree with you 110%.