Budgie flying with clipped wings?

Question

My bird's wings were clipped at the pet shop earlier this week when I got him. Before I let him out for the first time, I made sure he was trained with 'step up.' That was today. I got him out of the cage and..surprise, he flew around the room. He was panting and I think nervous, but since I had him trained luckily, I was able to safely get him back into his cage after a few minutes. Now why is he still able to fly? I clipped his wings for a reason! (At least until he is a little more trained, and then I will probably let them grow back.) I don't want him out flying around! He wasn't just gliding, he was able to get to the fan on the ceiling...which means he got lift. And I watched the pet shop guy clip his wings so I know that was done. Did he not do enough maybe? Or can some still fly after? And is there a way to cut them more and make sure he can't fly?

Answer 1

Do not listen to the guy who said you only clip one wing. This is an old and outdated practice and is very bad for the birds as it makes them prone to crashing badly and also makes them more nervous and unstable.

It may be that his wings were not clipped short enough to prevent him from flying completely and you may have to take him back to get them done shorter. However, I would actually advise against it.

Why do you want him to not be able to fly at all? He obviously can't fly properly so this means he wont be flying around all the time and it will still be easier for you to train him while at the same time your bird will get some of the benefits of a flighted bird such as the extra confidence, exercise and enjoyment.

By the time his wings grow out hopefully he will be tame enough to not have to have them cut again. If he is already stepping up that's a great first step and he seems to be well on the way to being a wonderful little pet. Keep at it and you wont need to trim his wings again. He might fly away and have a flap around the room, but that's what birds do. It makes them happy and healthy. If he's tame, he'll come back to hang with you too.

Good luck.

Answer 2

Your birds wings are not short enough. However you have to be careful. I had someone cut my poor little guys too short. Now he is miserable. It was even a vet! I am never going to go there again.

Like others have said. The bird will be able to glide. They can actually get going pretty good. My bird has never got height to it though. Maybe just about a 1 - 2 feet off the ground.

Do not take it back to that same place. Call around to your local vets and see their policy on wing clipping and take him there. It usually does not cost too much to have it done.

Only the primary flight feathers should be cut. So since your bird can still fly so well when you take it somewhere else just pretend that you have never had its wings clipped or else the person might think you like the wings really short which is not good for the bird. The still need to be able to glide for safety reasons.

Answer 3

Keep in mind that no matter how short the wing clip, birds will always have some flying ability. Adrenaline and light-weight bodies with hollow bones make up for the lack of long flight feathers. If a bird is spooked or just wants to be somewhere, they can definitely do it; it just takes a LOT more effort.

However, if he made it all the way to the ceiling, you'll definitely want to get a re-clip so that the feathers are either cut shorter (some people don't cut short enough for a fear of possibly hitting blood; a valid reason, which is why I suggest you take it to be done at an avian vet's) or not enough feathers were cut. Some people will cut a few primaries, some will cut the majority of them. DO NOT follow the advice of one answerer to clip one side. It puts them off balance not only in the way they fly, but in the way they balance overall, perch, and walk. They're completely lop sided and disoriented and if your bird were to fall off of a ledge or something, he would drop like a rock. Obviously, a wing clip should leave enough so that a bird can glide softly to the ground when it falls and not risk injury.

Check out an avian vet and see if they'll do it. If you tell them how much flying ability you want him to have, they'll be able to be much more accurate with your wing clip. http://aav.org/vet-lookup

Answer 4

If you clip the feathers on the inside of the wing say between the shoulder and the (our elbow) middle of the wing you will be able to adjust how much flight you want them to have. Be very careful their wings are very delicate. Just cut 3 or 4 feathers on each wing. be careful as to not cut to short and cause the feather to bleed. I find it very helpful to have 2 people when doing this. 1 person to hold the bird in a towel (the towel is mostly to protect your hands and also you may use it to drape over the birds face to calm it) and lightly with the other hand extend the wing so the 2nd person can clip the feathers. make sure when holding the bird that the wing not being cut is kept close to the body and secure. So it will not harm itself. try to use a blunt cutting tool so you will not poke the bird. try a new nail clipper.or toe nail clipper. The last thing you want is the bird flying into the spinning fan.

Answer 5

The pet shop guy just didnt do it short enough. You have to be careful with clipping birds wings tho. They have these things called blood feathers, where there is blood still pumping through the follicle (if thats even what its called) of the feather and by cutting it a bird could bleed out. If the tips of his wings cross behind his back when his wings are in a normal resting position, his wings are too long

Answer 6

You need to cut all the Primary flight feathers up to the index feathers which are the next group of 10 feathers, do not touch those. Only the larger feathers that extend to the end of the wing, do not break a feather the bird can bleed to death if the broken quill remains in the bird it acts like a straw! Just cut till the length of the primary feathers is equal to the length of the secondary or "index" feathers. Some birds are just able to lift even when clipped to the normally sufficient length to prohibit flight, you just got one of those athletes!

Answer 7

Take him back to where you got him and tell them that he is able to fly and ask them to clip the tings again.

I like to clip the promary feathers (the straight feathers at the end of the wings. The curved feathers are the secondarys closer to the body) even with the end if the covering feathers. If he is still able to fly clip the first two secondary feathers.

Answer 8

The pet store should have clipped the first five primary feathers.

Sometimes birds can still fly after being clipped. They just have to work harder and will not fly as far as they would have otherwise.

Answer 9

I personally don't like to clip my parakeets wings. Parakeets need to be able to stretch out their wings. Flying allows them to do this. When budgies have their wings cliped they usually feel more afraid. Some budgies that have never had their wings cliped are often the more tame and gentile ones. But let your parakeet have some freedom. It shouldn't be all cooped up forever.

Answer 10

You need to clip them some more! You obviously have the Carl Lewis of Budgies!