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Re: Why you shouldn't wing clip yet more info

Posted by Lucy on 8/30/05
(82) Comments
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    I had read through this chain when it had first came out and have not
    been on in awhile, so if my danger had already came up, I am sorry
    for mentioning it again (I didn't read every single post).

    First of all, someone stated that someone who has seen a fully
    flighted bird zooming aroung the house would never go back to
    clipping. I have two conures that were fully flighted for years.
    They had a cage but where never in it, they lived huge in a tree that
    was floor to ceiling in my living room that was so birdproof it was
    pretty much barren of human comforts aside from a couch and a tv on
    wheels that was only in there when we were. They flew with ease in
    the big room that was sealed off with doors from the kitchen and all
    other rooms. Life changed and we had to move, our new apt was no
    longer suitable. The conures were clipped and are happier then
    ever. They never shunned us for taking away their flight, they
    adapted. They now live in a cage when we are not home, they put on
    sweet voices when they want to be moved to a new perch, etc... They
    are extremely bonded to each other and very tame, were they so
    unhappy with our decision they could have easily ceased to interact
    with us.

    I have a Grey also, that came into my life while at the new place. I
    decided to prepare a "padded room" for him and allow him some extra
    flight time before giving him his first clip. Having a medium bird
    like a Grey flying indoors cannot be compared to a small bird like a
    Conure, and I dread to imagine a fully flighted Macaw in the average
    American home. Which brings me to the danger, that I did not see
    posted.

    Doorsways, hallways and archways (I think that is the term for a
    doorway with no door). The average American doorway connot even
    contain the fully outstreched wingspan of a a large Macaw. Sure a
    bird can learn to manoever itself right and make it through safely,
    but all it takes is one distraction. Which brings me to the story of
    a bird club member's missmarked Green Wing. "My friend" was in the
    kitchen chopping fruit for the bird's routine breakfast. A phone
    call distracted my friend, and the bird got impatient and exited. It
    flew to the kitchen and clipped its wings on the sides of the archway
    at full speed (no pun intended). The bird had flown through hundreds
    of times, this time I suppose his focus was more on the prize then
    the path. He was not killed but badly ingured. Some people say that
    a properly clipped bird looks mutilated or butchered. How would they
    have described this poor Macaw, or another bird that had been
    involved in an accident at full speed... NOW THAT IS MUTILATION. How
    would they decribe these birds if they saw them if one of the most
    intense words in the human language had already been used to describe
    a properly clipped wing?

    I understand how they might disagree because it is taking away the
    essence of the bird. We all take away from our birds. If one firmly
    beleives that a bird should be a bird... what is it doing in one's
    home? Clipped or not, we are all guilty of taking the birdness away
    from our birds. Their ancestors went through hell and back to
    provide us with the birds we have today. We cannot take back what
    other people did to them, the best we can do is provide our birds
    with a safe healthy home within our means. To some people this means
    clipping, this by no means makes them bad caregivers. So I don't
    even see why there is a debate about it. People are only providing
    the safest life they can. So, should one decide not to clip, I hope
    reason # 1, 2 and 3 would be because the owner has the means for safe
    flight. How many birds have been lost because simply "giving the
    bird his birdness" came first?