There are many things that make birds the fantastic and unique creatures they are today but a major factor is their ability to fly. All birds anatomy has heavily developed to make them natures perfect flying machine. As an owner you always want to do what is best for your bird so questions may arise such as is the human enviornment a safe one to fly my bird or should I keep my bird fully flighted? In this article we hope to navigate you through the importance of bird flight and how you should approach flying your bird in captivity.
Why is Flight important to my parrots Physical health?
Through thousands of years birds have evolved to be the perfect flying machine. In the wild, flight would be a parrots primary form of travel and would get them from nesting sites to feeding grounds daily. Larger species such as Amazons, Cockatoos and Macaws can travel on average 15 miles a day in search of food. This means a huge part of a birds anatomy and metabolisum is built on the premise of flight.
This means that flight is a huge factor in the physical health of your bird. On average, in a steady level flight a budgie can burn 152 calories, which is the equivalant to a human doing 2 hours of fast paced walking. flying is a essential way for your bird to burn fat and calories and in the development of muscle. Birds who are lazy or are not allowed to fly often suffer with obesity and are more at risk of developing conditions such as fatty liver disease. Flying can also help develop the two large muscles on the front chest of the bird known as the flight muscles.
Flying can also be important in a birds co-ordination and balance, to make themselves very aerodinamic. Birds anatomy is fine tuned to perfect balance. Birds who do not develop thier flight muscle properly are often unco-ordinated and more likely to crash or injure themselves than those who learn to fly.
Why is flying important to my parrots mental health?
One common concept that gets lost in the keeping of birds is the important of mental health and mental stimulation. Parrots are considered one of the most intelligent creatures and are definately one of the most intelligent species humans get to share their home with. It should be a key part of parrot care to ensure that the mental health of your bird should be top priority. A key part to your birds metal health is allowing them to express their natural behaviours. Being able to fly away and choose flight over forced proximity has a huge impact on birds. Often birds who are not given the option to fly have higher stress levels which then can lead to abnormal behaviours such as feather picking, bar biting or screaming. Sometimes if extreme stress levels are reached by the inability to escape, a bird can even enter more dangerous situations such as shock or cardiac arrest. So it is highly important to allow your bird to an escape route in the way they feel safest such as flying.
Should i clip my birds wings?
Any quality breeder who appreciates their birds would have the simple answer of NO. It is never a good idea to clip or pin your birds wings. Wing clipping is the process in which the flight feathers are cut on one side of the bird to “unbalance” them so they are unable to fly. It is common belief that this makes it easier to tame the bird and is safer for them but this information could not be more incorrect!
Wing clipped birds have more of a risk of being overweight and unhealthy. Also wing clipping can cause serious psychological damage to a bird causing them to be agressive and difficult to handle. The most common misinformation is that wing clipping makes life safer for your bird and that you can take them outside. This is very incorrect! Even if your bird is wing clipped it still has the ability to fly but it will cause your bird to be unbalanced and out of control when flying, which can lead them to crash and injure themselves. It also means that if you take them outside they will still be able to fly away and then put into a dangerous situation.
How do i fly my bird safley?
The safest way to fly your bird is to fly them in a open space with not many mirrors and windows. When you get a baby bird they will be confused and unsure of the space so they may crash initially. It is important then if they crash and are not stuck behind a piece of furniture that you allow them to navigate their own way back to you so they have confidence with recovering.
A simple safety training for your bird is to show your bird safe surface to land. Birds being neophobic are often frightened to land on any new surface. With some positive reinforcement training and encouragement from the owner you can encourage your bird onto surfaces so they know potential areas to land.
You can also do positive reinforcement re-call training. So training your bird to fly to you when hearing a sound or a command. This way you as a owner can have a little more control on your birds flight whilst also having as resource to encourage them to exercise.
Finally make sure that when you are flying your bird you have all your windows and doors closed. Also make sure you have agreement between all the family when to exercise your bird or have your bird out so everyone is aware that the bird is out flying.
