* Pet Bird Chat * NEW

[Polly44]

I am personally against clipping bird wings unless absolutely necessary. I feel that removing a birds flight feather just to make it easier for people to be careless and not have anything dramatic happening because they were careless is wrong.
Sometimes it might be necessary, but otherwise i think it's just cruel. I hate de-clawing of cats as well. If you don't want it scratching or whatever then don't get a cat.

My mum heard about clipping for our two Red Pennants the other day, but i said she shouldn't do it. Got to tame the devils first anyways. xD

[Kalrine]

(After just realizing the Wild Bird Chat is extremely inactive, I decided to move my post here just in case. Hopefully someone can help out!)

Need help identifying a chick! We're fairly certain he's a fledgling (or at least somewhere between the stage of nestling & fledgling), because he has quite a few feathers and he was found on the ground but can't yet fly. He was in a busy area, and if the mother bird didn't find him within a few minutes he was bound to get run over. Couldn't find his nest, hence why we have him (planning on releasing him as soon as he's well, of course). Tries to flap his wings but it doesn't do him much good yet. He ate three small worms for us with a little help, but he's looking tired and we're not sure what else we can provide for him. He's rather small & a little darker in colour; please take a look at this picture of him. Does anyone have a guess on what he is?



Edit: we think he's a sparrow.

[Tabbster]

Kalrine and I think he's a sparrow or some sort of finch, but his chirps don't really sound like either. He's eating worms (3 now) and seems to love them. Here's another photo of him;

[cat;;]

Here , i'll link you to the thread. Clipping is a very hotly debated topic for most bird owners ,personally i feel, that if the birds are happy and healthy in both situations and properly cared for, then everything is fine. My DYHA Monty makes it VERY clear when he wants to be with, and when he doesn't, and he will get his way, whether he can fly or not, he doesn't want you near him? moves away / growls. wants you to pick him up? Asks to be picked up with movement/foot held up and various other cues. We respect these cues and everyone gets along very well.

Now this greenwing WAS properly free flight trained, she used to go to airports runways to watch the airplanes, with all the sound and was fine, but the most insignificant, unordinary thing spooked her, a ladder.
here's the thread- http://www.parrotforums.com/lost-found/ ... ght-3.html
this man has been free flying his birds for YEARS, quote from her owner

"What basically happened was I was out freeflying Maggie and Sally.

A nearby ladder fell over, and startled Maggie, and she flew off in a panic, doing what she was trained to do, fly in a circle and come back. As she was coming in for a landing, the ladder was lifted up right in front of her... instead of coming in for a landing she went up, up, and away...

SHE HAS NEVER FLOWN OFF ON ME BEFORE, AND THIS BIRD GOES OUT EVERY DAY.

Now, I can't stop crying..." Page with post

He has owned this bird for 18 years, free flew her everyday he had her, so no, it wasn't his fault, it was simply a bird being a bird. He had 100% trust in her, and I would too after 18 years of perfect free flight without a single loss of the bird.

I am completely fine with people who don't clip! That is how they feel and i'm happy for them but I know that I dont want to take the chance that our bird would land on the hot wood stove at the cottage, or accidentally get out the door during the middle of a canadian winter where he would undoubtedly die from the cold in -30 celsius. These are risks i'm personally not willing to take.

I know this can be a very hotly debated topic among bird owners, I will provide a link to a site that has tons of discussions from actual parrot owners on the topic! This forum is amazing for most questions you have about birds It's like a little family. http://www.parrotforums.com/

(please no backlash, i am firm on my feeling on this topic, as you are in yours, I love that you have your birds flighted and you are comfortable with it, and i am more comfortable with my boy and his medium clip. ie. can still glide slightly, but gets no lift.)

Although I am strongly against clipping, I don't hate owners who do or think badly upon them, I just try to voice my opinions and educate them so they can make the decision for themselves.
Personally, I don't think that is a good argument against not clipping.. Just keep your doors shut before you take your bird out. That's it, and they'll be fine.
Birds have wings for a reason, and just because we are humans capable to take their flight away, doesn't mean we should. We already force these wild animals into our house and shove them in a tiny cage when they should be in the wild, the least we could do is just let them fly, like they should.
I know I won't change your opinion, but I feel strongly on the subject. I also personally don't like parrotforums, I have been there a few times and 1) was not welcomed 2) Was ridiculed and yelled at for my opinion on clipping and 3) I dislike their view on bird and other animal species mingling. They think it's totally cute for a bird and a dog to play together and I really hate that they boast it on their site. BIrds and dogs should never mix.. that's a recipe for disaster.

It is the owners fault.. still... The ladder fell over, but this bird would have never gotten away if it was on a harness like it should have been. 99.9999% of pet parrots cannot be trusted with free flight like that no matter how long you've had them and how much you think you are bonded. I am definately not against free flight, but you need to do it at your own risk, and that owner did and his bird flew away and it's very sad, but seriously he knew it could have happened going into it.
That doesn't mean that he should clip his bird. that bird obviously was living the life being free flighted like that and was probably very happy, I would love to free fly Nash one day, but you need to know that it can and will happen if done without a harness. It's not his fault for not clipping the bird, it's his fault for not having a harness on.

(After just realizing the Wild Bird Chat is extremely inactive, I decided to move my post here just in case. Hopefully someone can help out!)

Need help identifying a chick! We're fairly certain he's a fledgling (or at least somewhere between the stage of nestling & fledgling), because he has quite a few feathers and he was found on the ground but can't yet fly. He was in a busy area, and if the mother bird didn't find him within a few minutes he was bound to get run over. Couldn't find his nest, hence why we have him (planning on releasing him as soon as he's well, of course). Tries to flap his wings but it doesn't do him much good yet. He ate three small worms for us with a little help, but he's looking tired and we're not sure what else we can provide for him. He's rather small & a little darker in colour; please take a look at this picture of him. Does anyone have a guess on what he is?



Edit: we think he's a sparrow.

Why do you have this baby bird to begin with? Is there a local wildlife rehab place you can send him to?

[Tabbster]

We have the bird because he was in the middle of the road and was almost run over. We looked for the nest, but there is no sign of it or the parents. His chirps wouldn't be heard because of the traffic. The only wildlife rehab is 4 hours away; they won't come to us and we can't go to them. They said the best hope of survival for him is either feed him or leave him where we found him, and we can't put him back because his chance of survival would be very low.

[cat;;]

We have the bird because he was in the middle of the road and was almost run over. We looked for the nest, but there is no sign of it or the parents. His chirps wouldn't be heard because of the traffic. The only wildlife rehab is 4 hours away; they won't come to us and we can't go to them. They said the best hope of survival for him is either feed him or leave him where we found him, and we can't put him back because his chance of survival would be very low.

Maybe put him on the side of the road where he was found and watch closely from a hidden place so he can scream and his parents can find him.. What about visiting a vet? Or asking for a list of certified personal wildlife rehabilitators who run their own 'business?" Most places have at least a few who have a license. If he can fly and mostly fend for himself I would release him

[Kalrine]

We have the bird because he was in the middle of the road and was almost run over. We looked for the nest, but there is no sign of it or the parents. His chirps wouldn't be heard because of the traffic. The only wildlife rehab is 4 hours away; they won't come to us and we can't go to them. They said the best hope of survival for him is either feed him or leave him where we found him, and we can't put him back because his chance of survival would be very low.

Maybe put him on the side of the road where he was found and watch closely from a hidden place so he can scream and his parents can find him.. What about visiting a vet? Or asking for a list of certified personal wildlife rehabilitators who run their own 'business?" Most places have at least a few who have a license. If he can fly and mostly fend for himself I would release him

He can't yet fend for himself, nor fly, which is why we haven't released him. The road is very busy and wide, and there aren't many trees on either side; if his parents didn't find him quick a hawk would pick him up in no time at all. We believe he'll soon be able to fend for himself (guessing around a week, if not less), and then we'll release him close to the area we found him, but a fair distance from the road. We're capable of caring for him and have raised baby birds before (finches, doves, among others); our only question was about what species he is. He's eating very well and looks relatively healthy, so there's no need to worry now.

[.:FarmGirlAtHeart:.]

Last night as I was feeding and watering the button quail, I noticed again that Charlie has been having some problems balancing. This has been a constant problem sense I rescued him, but it's been starting to get a bit better. Last night, however, I realized that Charlie's problem will never get better. I'm not sure if he was born like this or if it was an injury, but he's missing half of one of his back toes. Luckily it doesn't seem to be putting him in pain. When I rescued him, I had the full intention of breeding him with one of my girls. If he was born without the toe, will the babies have the same problem, or will it end with him?

[bergamot.]

Username: kiwi, after my beloved parrot!
How many birds do you own?: Just one. He is a ten-year old senegaI parrot rescued from the humane society.
How long have you had them?: about a month
What brings you to bird chat?: As Kiwi is not finger trained yet, I came looking for some tips from experienced bird
owners. I would like to know what I can do to work with him, as he tries to bite any fingers that come near him.
He lets me pet him on the head and beak, and I have been able to get him to step up onto a dowel. My mom and I
wrap him in a towel to get him out of the cage, and then just hold him and talk to him. Is there any way to train an
older bird like kiwi?

[cat;;]

We have the bird because he was in the middle of the road and was almost run over. We looked for the nest, but there is no sign of it or the parents. His chirps wouldn't be heard because of the traffic. The only wildlife rehab is 4 hours away; they won't come to us and we can't go to them. They said the best hope of survival for him is either feed him or leave him where we found him, and we can't put him back because his chance of survival would be very low.

Maybe put him on the side of the road where he was found and watch closely from a hidden place so he can scream and his parents can find him.. What about visiting a vet? Or asking for a list of certified personal wildlife rehabilitators who run their own 'business?" Most places have at least a few who have a license. If he can fly and mostly fend for himself I would release him

He can't yet fend for himself, nor fly, which is why we haven't released him. The road is very busy and wide, and there aren't many trees on either side; if his parents didn't find him quick a hawk would pick him up in no time at all. We believe he'll soon be able to fend for himself (guessing around a week, if not less), and then we'll release him close to the area we found him, but a fair distance from the road. We're capable of caring for him and have raised baby birds before (finches, doves, among others); our only question was about what species he is. He's eating very well and looks relatively healthy, so there's no need to worry now.

SOrry I have been away!! I see, I guess the best option is to try to nurse him to health and release him when and if you can.. I'm sorry for the late reply, I actually know very little about bird husbandry and especially wild birds.. Any new news on this guy?

Last night as I was feeding and watering the button quail, I noticed again that Charlie has been having some problems balancing. This has been a constant problem sense I rescued him, but it's been starting to get a bit better. Last night, however, I realized that Charlie's problem will never get better. I'm not sure if he was born like this or if it was an injury, but he's missing half of one of his back toes. Luckily it doesn't seem to be putting him in pain. When I rescued him, I had the full intention of breeding him with one of my girls. If he was born without the toe, will the babies have the same problem, or will it end with him?

It depends on how her lost the toe. If it was from injury, it won't get passed on, but there is a slight probablity it will if it was genetic. Although it is rare, so I wouldn't worry very much about it. If he seems to get around fine, you should be good(:

-snip-
As Kiwi is not finger trained yet, I came looking for some tips from experienced bird
owners. I would like to know what I can do to work with him, as he tries to bite any fingers that come near him.
He lets me pet him on the head and beak, and I have been able to get him to step up onto a dowel. My mom and I
wrap him in a towel to get him out of the cage, and then just hold him and talk to him. Is there any way to train an
older bird like kiwi?

Since he is older, he needs time to readjust to his new home, and sometimes it could take months. Senegals are known to be kinda standoffish ( usually, not all are ), so he may just be one of those birds. He also may have come from a bad home and not like people much because he was abused or neglected.. There are so many reasons and he honestly may never be hand tamed.
Target training should be your best friend. Look up videos on it if you don't know what it is, but basically it's where you get a stick and have your bird touch it, then later have him just walk to it/fly to it/pick up what you're pointing at... It's the basis for all training ( Nash know's how to spin in a circle on command and wave on command because of this ) it's also a good trust building exercise.. " Hey if I do this, that nice lady will give me a treat.. she's not so bad!".
Being 10, he has probably gone through at least 2-3 homes ( on average ) and since you've only had him for a month I wouldn't stress having to tame him just now. He needs to trust you first! Try target training for a while, and then offer him a stick and target him to step up on it, then your finger if you're feeling confident.
Spend a lot of time with him, readhim your homework aloud, sing to him, give him treats and veggies by hand. I don't suggest getting him out with a towel because it will scare him and he won't want to trust you if you come after him with a big scary rag.. just take your time and build up trust, it can be ruined in an instant if you're not careful. He can absolutely be trained and do everything you want him to do... but it will take a lot of time and patience, never force him to do something he doesn't want to do. If he doesn't want to step up and come out of the cage, don't shove your finger to his chest, just ask again or walk away.
Without knowing his past it's hard to know how long this will take, but with the right training it could be a week! Good luck!