how to cut parrot wing

Content

• wild birds and poultry
• Arguments in favor of clipping wings
• Why is wing clipping not recommended?
• Parrot training: a good alternative
• Positive reinforcement in parrots
• Parrot wing clipping: Final recommendations
• If you still want to clip your parrot's wing

Larger birds such as parrots, macaws and cockatiels are increasingly common today as exotic domestic animals. These animals are extremely intelligent, have a long lifespan and often develop behavioral problems resulting from captivity, boredom and compromised well-being. This means that keeping such a bird in captivity as a pet can be very difficult.

In this article by PeritoAnimal, we are going to talk about flight restriction, the consequences of cut parrot wing and whether you should even choose to clip your pet's wings.

wild birds and poultry

Most of the parrots traded are illegally captured from the wild or are the first or second generation of captive animals. All these animals keep their wild features and a large part is not fit to be fully domesticated.

These animals need to express their natural behavior, which included socialization and flying¹.

Wild parrots spend most of their time flying in search of food and interacting with conspecifics (animals of the same species), unlike pet parrots.

The main concerns of many authors regarding the well-being of parrots in captivity are:

• Social isolation;
• flight restriction,
• Inappropriate diets
• Little or no environmental enrichment for entertainment and cognitive development.

Birds kept in a cage for more than 10 hours a day tend to have serious psychological problems and may exhibit abnormal behaviors (so-called stereotyped behaviors) such as biting the bars, aggressiveness or picacism (feather plucking). They need at least 4 to 6 free hours, flying and/or socializing.

When you become a guardian of one or more birds, you will have to make important decisions that have many controversial opinions, as is the case of wing clipping.

There are many articles on how to cut a kite's wing so as not to fly. However, the purpose of this article is for you to get to know the two versions, the arguments and counter-arguments about wing clipping in poultry.

Arguments in favor of clipping wings

I'm sure you've done a lot of research on how to cut parrot wing feathers, but do you have your opinion and doubts well clarified?

These are the common arguments used by those who defend the clipping of birds' wings:

• Some trainers claim that the bird is more cooperative and easier to learn if you clip your wings, restricting your flight.
• THE bird and guardian safety is used as the main purpose of cutting a wild or tame parrot's wing. Birds with intact wings can drop or destroy objects in the house, damage their feathers by hitting mirrors, glass doors or decorative objects, getting stuck, fracturing a bone or even eating certain foods or toxic or chemical products.
• Another argument is that cutting wings prevent the escape of the bird.
• prevents falls from great heights.
• É easier to get it back if she escapes.

Why is wing clipping not recommended?

However, from the Animal Expert, WE DO NOT RECOMMEND that you clip your parrot's wings, as this is a cruel practice that can be countered with the following reasons explained by any good veterinary professional:

• The bird's skeleton consists of light, hollow bones, muscles and other structures that work simultaneously when the parrot flies, making the respiratory system more dynamic and profitable.
• Trimming baby birds' wings is not recommended because it can alter the normal feather growth and cause muscle atrophy.
• The clipping of wings prevents the bird from performing the natural behavior of flight and learning, as well as from exercise the muscles and guarantee a good breath.
• In addition to being a threat to well-being, wing clipping is also unnecessary as parrots can be easily trained to obey most orders of tutors.
• Many guardians wish to clip their wings for safety, however birds with clipped wings can be more dangerous when they feel threatened, vulnerable and unable to escape and may even invest to attack as a defense mechanism.
• The argument that calls for wing clipping for bird safety, such as flight, cuts, burns or ingesting toxic food, can be easily countered. When you have a baby or child at home, we take every precaution so that the child doesn't get hurt or fall down. It has a fenced crib and all sharp or small objects are placed out of reach. So why not take all these precautions when do we release your bird? If you close the kitchen, seal off the bird's access to all mirrors or familiarize it with them, as well as glass doors and windows in the house, remove all food and chemicals from its reach, what need is there to cut its wings of the parrot? IT'S common sense do not let the bird fly in dangerous places.
• Regarding possible drowning in buckets or an open toilet, the solution is simple. Just check for reachable and dangerous water sources and remove, cover or seal them.
• Cutting the parrot's wing means that when you release it, it will have to walk further along the ground, where there are also dangers such as electrical wires, danger of being stepped on and even becoming accessible to other animals living in the house.
• If the clipped wing animal falls from a considerable height, it can get hurt for not being able to break the fall.
• Wing clipping prevents upward flight, but not horizontally and, even with the wing clipping done well, parrots can get to fly short distances and crashing into windows, mirrors and walls, or even escaping.
• If your parrot with a clipped wing runs away, it could be more dangerous for him, as you are more likely to be bitten or run over than if you had your wings intact to be able to fly and take refuge in some tree or high place.

Parrot training: a good alternative

"Here", "stay", "go", "up" and "down" are some examples of commands you can teach your parrot. If we take the time to train our puppies, why not do the same with birds that are so smart?

Despite requiring a lot of dedication, the parrot training is a great alternative to clipping wings.

Positive reinforcement in parrots

A type of training based on positive reinforcement consists of maintaining or increasing a desired behavior, stimulating the pet with something he likes, such as toys, food, cookies and/or praise. It's the kind of behavior modification training that works best, ignoring when the bird doesn't do what the tutor asks, but valuing and rewarding when he obeys.

To teach your parrot to fly to you, start by encouraging it with a food or something captivating. Then, little by little, introduce the instruction, which should always be based on the same word so as not to confuse the parrot.

You must reward each time he flies to you so he can match the order to the reward and the action. Please note, when implementing the word for instruction, the reward should only be offered when the animal flies after the order. Don't scold the bird when it flies without order, just don't reward it.

Start with a short distance and work your way further apart and gradually increase the distance. As mentioned above, it takes some time to teach the parrot, but it only takes a few minutes a day and a few times every day for the parrot to learn the order. Don't forget they love challenges and learning.

These tips work not only to teach the animal to fly to you, but also to teach it how to stay, fly to other locations or other tricks. Just teach one trick at a time and so on.

Find out which are the best toys for parrots in this PeritoAnimal article.

Parrot wing clipping: Final recommendations

Could it be that all the above dangers cannot be avoided? Is wing clipping the best method to ensure bird safety? You should really think about the true implications of clipping your pet's wing.

As we have seen, there are many reasons not to practice wing clipping, as well as many professionals that this practice is inadvisable and undesirable when it comes to animal welfare.

If you still want to clip your parrot's wing

The wing clipping gives a false sense of security, as the bird can manage to flee and fly short distances in it. Always ask the veterinarian for his opinion and, if he chooses to trim his wings, he should be the one who makes the cut. In addition, the cut must be symmetrical to ensure stability and must never be cut to the point of completely impeding flight.

If you want to read more articles similar to how to cut parrot wing, we recommend that you enter our Extra Care section.