Clip Their Wings

One of the most common problems for bird owners is that their birds fly away. Once your bird gets away the odds of catching it again are small. Clipping the bird’s wings, impairing it’s ability to fly, will not only keep your bird safely at home but may improve his attitude. Flighted birds are also more likely to fly into windows or mirrors and may cause serious injury to themselves. However, in a house with small children or an aggressive dog or cat, its better if your bird can fly to get away. Some common behavioral problems associated with a flighted bird include: swooping down to attack, flying around the house rather than socializing with you, and biting and becoming aggressive when its time to go back into the cage. A wing trim can change this attitude to one of “I can’t live without you.”

Be careful about how your bird’s wings are trimmed. A good trim will allow the bird to gently drift to the floor whereas a bad trim will cause the bird to flip or fall to the floor causing potentially serious injury such as broken bones. The number of feathers trimmed depends on the weight and strength of the bird. It may only require 3 trimmed feathers for a weak flier and potentially 8 for a strong one. A heavy bird will need fewer feathers trimmed because his weight will help keep him grounded. Before you attempt to clip your own bird’s wings have your veterinarian show you what to do. Also always test your bird’s ability to fly before you finish a wing trim/or allow them outside the cage. Be careful to never cut a blood feather (identified by their swollen blue appearance). Nor should the covering or protecting feathers be cut. Finally, some owners find that their bird holds a grudge against the person doing the trimming. It may be in your best interest to let the veterinarian be the “bad guy”, we don’t mind.