Should I let her fly

[wendilla]

I have a Hannes Macaw and she had her wings clipped when I first had her a year ago as a baby. She has now found her flight she only flies to me at the moment. Should I let her fly ? I s is better for her to have her flight. I have a cockatiel and he is out every day for his fly around .Always keep to nearly the same time to let them out for safety. I live on my own and the back door is always locked and I know no one will come round to that door so they are safe.Thank you

[icemaiden]

Hello Wendilla.

It's always nice to see birds fly, however, there are risks with letting your birds fly freely indoors.

They can fly in to windows and glass doors very easily. I have known birds to die like this. There are a lot of obstacles in a house that a bird can fly into, this in turn can cause many injuries.

I have been breeding parrots for many years and I always clip the flight feathers. But I always leave two or three feathers on the very end as this looks a lot nicer. I have known people to hack off a birds wing to the point that the feathers will never grow back again.

If you want to let them fly safely may I suggest using a parrot harness. This can allow the bird some freedom of flight outdoors. Better still if you have the room and money, why not invest in a flight aviary. We have one in our garden and it's great for the birds to fly without the worry of injuries and escaping.

Good luck with your macaw.

[terambulan]

Restraining flight is like have your arms pinned down permanently which will restrain muscle development to the limbs. Hardly fair to the bird?

If you don't have suitable facilities for the bird then please think of re-homing them. Harsh maybe, but its for the good of the bird?

[wendilla]

Thank you for your replies, I have quite a large kitchen and dining room combined. The cockatiel always goes to the same landing places and hopefully my macaw will do the same . She is not a big bird but larger than the cockatiel.The cockatiel has never hit the windows and my maccaw always flies to me but that might change and this was why I am not sure whether to let her have her flight or have her wings clipped again.