Ever wonder what it’s like to be one of the BirdTricks birds? Or maybe be one of the Womach’s? Well this post is all about a glimpse into a day in the Womach flock.

It all started with a BBQ outside, Dave cooking chicken for the two of us…

The birds were playing in the aviaries and everyone was enjoying their day.

I went over and grabbed Comet, our eldest camelot macaw who is freeflight trained by us, and let him hang out on the chair by the pool with us. He shared in a little of our grub, took a slice of my tangerine and flew a few times in the backyard. We hung out on his own chair and performed a few tricks, then just spent some quality time with us. As I screamed and jumped up from a lady bug almost walking itself into my mouth off a piece of food I had, Comet didn’t even stir uneasily.

Comet went back into the aviary to play and I brought out his younger brother Tusa.

He flapped like always when first out of the aviary and into a large space, then shared in some short recalls across the pool and some quality hanging out time in the yard.

Even Tusa was up for showing off his “wave to the camera…

Which actually got better and higher than ever before. We were proud “parronts”.

It’s just a little of what your day with your bird could look like if you chose to enroll in our Freestyle Flyer’s Club, which is our freeflight course personally taught by Dave Womach. It’s a lot of fun and so far all our clients through it have become some of our best friends. For information on how to enroll email info@birdtricks.com.

And one more thing, here’s a video of Comet performing some tricks and doing a short flight in our backyard:

Two years… 730 Days… 17,520 hours… Countless Miles… No matter how you look at it, two years on the road is a long time!  Especially when you travel the country by truck and RV… correction; make that two trucks, and two RV’s, a flock of birds, magic props, motorcycle, and a house cat.  Driving separately from Jamie can be painstaking, but it does give me some time to reflect.  Not only on shows and future plans, but on training, and what I can do to become a better trainer.

Image Copyright Feld Entertainment 2010

I’m one of those people who is constantly in the pursuit of perfection.  Always trying to learn more, and always trying to become a better person and professional.  At many times, it’s to a fault.  These past two years have really given me the chance to realize how important it is to live in the moment.  It has also given me phycological insight on how to get my birds to reach perfection on and off stage.  After all, I’m hired to perform a 1st-class production with professionally trained parrots – and likewise, my birds are expected to be “1st Class Performers” as well. It would be hard to be “the best” if my birds would land in the rafters, or fly out the backdoor and disappear into the Vegas desert, only to be found a week later by strangers.  In my industry, there’s no room for errors.  Sometimes that can translate to a lot of pressure for my birds, after all they didn’t sign the contract, I did.  So I always do my best to reward their every moment.

October 30, 2011 finally arrived, and we performed our last show in Wilkes Barre, PA.  I had performed for five different Ringling Shows over that two year tour, and it was all coming to an end.  Aside from a huge sense of accomplishment, there was a strange calmness that suddenly overwhelmed me backstage shortly after performing Catapoultry with Bondi.  I looked around and realized… 5,000 people in an arena, sold out shows, TV, Radio, Print… it was all coming to an end in 73 minutes from that exact moment.  Surrounded by black curtains and 7-sets of birdie eyes staring at me through the dimly lit backstage, as if they could tell I was finally processing it all; I took each bird out, kissed them on the head, held them for a moment and thanked them out-loud for being there for me for the entire tour. The ups and downs, the tornados and snow storms, 20 degrees to 120 degrees – it didn’t matter, they had achieved perfection in nearly every show, night after night, mile after mile, audience after audience.

Fiji’s Last Show – Photo Mishelle Statford

It was when I picked up Bondi, who had been looking at me concerned the whole time, that a single tear made it’s way past my right eye, and was now slowly passing my lips.   I kissed her on the head, thanked her for giving her all, even on days that she wasn’t feeling well.  It was as if she and I connected more than ever.  She mirrored my mood through every phase of the tour, from being a rock star on stage, to the tender moments offstage that an audience and cameras never see.  When we lost Fiji, she completely shut down with me, as if she was mourning her loss through me.  And on October 30, 2011 she once again  understood my feelings and that this was her last show, and we could both go home and relax until our next journey begins.

Bondi Performing Catapoultry

I learned many things on this tour about life & training.  From the highest highs to the lowest lows, and yet one lesson stands out miles ahead of anything else I could ever possibly write.  A lesson that we should all live by, a lesson that keeps you moving when your down and constantly elevates you while you’re up.

“Always love your birds like it’s the last day you’ll see them, for they provide more to us than could ever be transcribed into any human language.”

I’m so grateful for everything they’ve given me.  Those of you who can truly relate know the exact feeling I’m conjuring when I say these words.  And those of you who are just now paving that path with your birds will soon understand the feelings that are impossible to put onto paper.

Photo by Dave
Location: Moab, UT
Flying: Congo African Grey “Cressi”

Our latest freeflight student is a 13 year old Moluccan Cockatoo named Pooh. He comes from California where he will only eat colored pellets and lots of fruit but refuses veggies.

I was disappointed in his diet but we had a ton of other things to work on so we didn’t make a big deal of it right off the bat in his training. I knew it would come at some point or another anyway, and if anything, come to work naturally making it a much easier transition for his human companion.

Just as I thought, far enough into the training, we took Pooh outside for some serious skill learning in outdoor flight training. We brought along our three macaws too, to teach Pooh a thing or two and add in some observational learning.

It worked like a charm and Pooh was flying longer than he had ever flown before. By the end of the day, both Pooh and his human were tired from all the excitement! The day before Pooh stayed in our dressing room while shows went on and every time we left the room he’d scream his head off. This day, however, after spending the entire morning flying, he didn’t make a single sound during the show. Dave and I were laughing inside because we knew how exhausted he must be from all that irregular exercise (add a little wind resistance to your flights and you’re working hard!).

Photo by Jamieleigh
Location: Cruise ship
Shown: Congo African Grey “Cressi”

As we said goodbye to Pooh and Kai, I told Kai when he got home to offer Pooh lots of veggies. “I know he has refused to eat them in the past, but with his body working as hard as it did and will be in the future through all your flight training… his body is going to CRAVE those healthy foods and nutrients so offer them and you will be blown away by what he eats!” I told Kai.

Two days later we spoke with Kai for our weekly consult and sure enough Pooh had devoured a whole thing of broccoli. Kai was shocked and I was more than happy! I told him what changes he could expect in Pooh’s attitude, energy level and body as he builds muscle, loses fat and continues to eat the good stuff.

Flight training can easily lead to a breakthrough for many birds in eating healthier. When you work out and take care of yourself, your body takes care of itself too by giving you the proper cravings for foods it needs to replenish itself so it can continue working hard and being healthy.

Photo by Dave
Location: Moab, UT
With me: Congo African Grey “Cressi”

So if your bird isn’t a healthy eater, try giving him more exercise and see what he starts eating that will surprise you!

Remember:

1. Feed the healthiest foods first when your bird is the hungriest.
2. Stay organic as much as possible, even when it comes to the pellet you feed.
3. Encourage mental and physical stimulation (trick training, puzzles, foraging toys and flight training)
4. There’s more than one way to skin a cat; try serving the healthy stuff in a variety of ways from cooked to raw to shredded to baked into things and more.
5. If you can, use your bird’s favorite food as treats. Our birds, believe it or not, respond better to blueberries as their reward than pine nuts!

Photo by Dave
Location: Orlando, FL
Freeflying: Camelot Macaw “Tusa”

Just recently we were performing in Nampa, Idaho and stayed at the Events Center that had a huge parking lot connected to a horse area. The place was huge, and the animal acts were separate with a giant parking lot to ourselves. Just by it were horse showers and across the way were barns, and the semi trucks were parked in the lot with us. We looked around and thought it was perfect for a little freeflight time!

Out came our flock mates of Jinx (blue throated macaw) followed by Bandit (rose breasted cockatoo) and Comet (camelot macaw) and then Tusa (camelot macaw) and later Bondi (rose breasted cockatoo)… for those of you Cressi (congo African grey) fans… she was too busy stuffing her face instead by choice…

Everyone was super excited to be freeflying on the beautiful, sunny day that Nampa had to offer…

Photo by Dave
Location: Nampa, ID
Pictured: Camelot macaw “Tusa”

That is, everyone… but Tusa. Tusa will fly more than the other birds with the exception of Bandit. But he’s more likely to want to freefly for the longest amount of time and take the longest flights. Not that day. He hardly flew at all and when encouraged to do so, he landed on a nearby television news van and chose not to fly anymore.

What a flighted bird can tell you that a clipped one can’t is through wanting or not wanting to fly. Whenever a bird does not want to fly… it can tell you that something is wrong. This can be something unrelated to the health of the bird like your bird spotting predators in the area before you can, or it can relate directly to how your bird is feeling and tell you the beginning signs that your bird could be sick or getting sick.

All too many times our birds will stop flying when they don’t feel well and it’s always one of the first signs of illness to us besides weight loss and loss of appetite which shortly follow or let us know what we’ve been missing to notice.

When Tusa flew, however, it was obvious what was wrong. He had one large flight feather that stuck straight up in the air above all the rest that was causing him serious pain. It wouldn’t fall out as much as he preened and pulled at it, and it was uncomfortable enough that he barely made his flight to Dave that night in the show. We immediately pulled him from the show, but still kept him backstage and kept his routine the same except for bringing him out for the flight.

Until the feather falls out, we’ve kept him out which so far has only meant one night. We’re waiting to discover that massive feather at the bottom of his cage and test to see how he is feeling before we return him to the show.

Photo by Dave
Location: Nampa, ID
Flying: Camelot macaw “Comet”

Flight is a huge sign that lets you know when something is right or something is wrong. For our birds to choose not fly tells us to pay more attention to something that’s wrong which is why we encourage our birds to fly, but try never to throw them or make them fly because there’s always a reason they’re choosing not to. A clipped bird can’t tell ya that.

Tossing your bird and things out of play time or fun is different; when we normally do this we’ve already established our birds are feeling well and the birds are always giving us signs that they want to play (something we’ve taught them as play) but this isn’t always done and is only done when the bird comes and gives us signs of wanting to do so. It can be hard to distinguish the two if you aren’t used to giving your birds different signs of communication they can use to tell you what they want or don’t want, or if you’re not used to being around flighted birds so I wanted to make sure to let you guys know the difference as I know you’ve all seen us launch Bandit into the air for play time and things of the sort.

A bird not wanting to fly at all can tell you something, just another reason to keep your bird fully flighted and teach recall/indoor flight training.

Robot in Feather Tether by parrotphotos.us

Keeping our parrots socialized is one of the biggest responsibilities in ownership. The prospects for your bird’s quality of life are greatly enhanced when we do so. One of the best ways to do this is to take our birds out with us often and introduce them to new people, places and things.

Our biggest concern when we take our birds outside the confines of the house is for their safety. Unless your parrot is highly trained in free-flight and recall, you should never bring them outside without a restraint – either in a carrier or a harness.

There are several parrot harnesses on the market these days, but there are really only three contenders as I see it. I put a post on the facebook page recently asking people to speak about their harness choices. The opinions seem to fall in line with my own and those of others I asked.

For whatever reason, people seem to feel intimidated by harnesses. It appears to be that 1) they feel that their birds will not tolerate it being put on, 2) they won’t be able to figure out how to put it on, and 3) they fear for the safety of their birds in them. Here are some opinions:

The Aviator from drsfostersmith.com

The Aviator (Parrot University) seems to be the most popular of the harnesses. An advantage to this one is its one piece construction. You slip the head and wings through the appropriate slots and tighten it with a slide. It is very simple to put on. I think one of it’s best advantages is a simple safety feature: an elastic leash that gives play and absorbs the impact should the bird take to the air. Injuries have occured when birds have flown off and come to an abrupt halt in mid-flight as the length of leash runs out.

(The one thing I don’t like about Parrot University is that they introduced this product as a way to ‘fly” your bird outside in a 30′ or 50′ radius. It claims it’s design to be tangle proof, which is the biggest danger present when flying your bird on a leash. I feel, though, that it is a risky precedent to set with your bird. I don’t want my bird to feel inspired to leave the safety of my hand or shoulder when I am outside with him, and I can see where offering this freedom could present future problems. If you want your bird to fly outdoors, have him trained professionally to do so. A leash is a restraint and should be regarded as such by your bird.)

The FlightSuit photo from djfeathers.com

The Flight Suit (Avian Fashions) falls somewhere in the middle in popularity. Of all of the harnesses, it looks like your bird has the smallest chance of escape from this one. It also looks like it might be very cumbersome and hot during the summer. I can’t say for sure because I have never had one.
A really cool feature of this harness is the attachable “diaper”, which is a pouch (with liners) strategically placed to catch poop. Aside from keeping you clean, it allows you to take your bird to places, like a friend’s house, where his droppings might be unwelcome.
(It is actually this company’s confusing website that kept me from buying one of these. The harness is appropriately named the “FlightSuit”. But on the site, the diapers are also named the “FlightSuit”. At first, I thought this was an error, but as you move through the site, both the diaper and the harness are sold individually and each are referred to by the same name. I never felt certain which I was ordering, so I got an Aviator.)

Feather Tether photo from petsmart.com

The Feather Tether was one of the first harnesses available and is still a popular brand.

(There are altogether too many buckles and metal parts on this harness that would make it uncomfortable or that might get caught on feathers. Also, you need a degree in engineering to actually get it on your bird correctly. Years ago, I remember laying mine out flat on a table and trying to envision how I would wrap each strap over my bird’s body. Of course, in that vision the bird was very still and good, which did not correspond to my bird, who kept changing in size and shape throughout the ordeal. Truth be told, I never figured it out and my bird never wore it once.)

There are many tutorials on youtube teaching you how to put on the different harnesses. A simple google search will retrieve ones like this one, demonstrating on a most cooperative blue and gold. Some tutorials suggest you allow your bird to play with the harness to desensitize him to it before you try to put it on.This is not a good idea. By all means let your bird get accustomed to the harness, at first from a distance, then by approaching him with it until he’s comfortable. But it is not a toy and he shouldn’t feel at ease with chewing on it. A larger bird can bite clean through the harness straps or leash. The results would be tragic if your bird did this while wearing it.

Whatever harness you get, be sure that the size is appropriate. A harness is no good if either too large or too small. The sizing charts on some brands are of little help and the bird pictured on the packaging is not necessarily relative to the size of the harness inside. If I remember correctly, the very first Feather Tether I ever bought was the wrong size for my bird despite their recommendation on the package. Go to the brand’s website for the most definitive sizing charts.

FlightSuit photo from windycityparrot.com

The confidence you show your bird as you are trying to put on a harness for the first time will have a lot of impact on how this and future experiences go. Practice make perfect. I know a number of people, myself included, who went out and bought a stuffed animal that was vaguely the same shape and size as our bird to practice with. You may have to use your imagination a bit, but this will make you feel a lot more comfortable trying to harness an impatient, squirming parrot.

Camelot Macaw

Thank goodness for the month of March and 70-something degree weather again! The birds (and us) were getting tired of freeflying indoors (although it can be super fun) we were ready for some much needed sunshine and a bit of a breeze to help the birds along!

Today we decided to take some of our birds out for some flights around the RV lot. We are pretty much on outstretched fairgrounds with rodeo-type places outdoors and around, a huge arena and tons of barns around for housing horses mainly.

Earlier in the day we took the elephants out with their trainer Ramon Esqueda, and played with them in the large open grass. It was a blast and as we were playing happily, the crew was setting up our birds’ aviary and we got to bring the flock out afterwards. We sat around in the sun soaking it up and bathing everyone who wanted it.

Galah

Later on in the day we grabbed our training bags and decided on a whim to fly! We stayed within our lot, and it seemed to create a barrier of trailers that our birds stayed within by choice.

Now that we’re finally in some nice weather we are hoping to be freeflying the flock more outdoors on our days off. So stay tuned for more pictures and videos from us and the Womach flock! And be sure to catch a show and come an hour early to meet Dave and I and some of our flock mates… and let us know you’re from BirdTricks.com and we’ll do our best to get you backstage to see the grand tour of our birds’ living quarters

Check out the links for more info! —> Tour schedule, photos, videos, birdtricks.com fans before you.