Our $1,500 Bird Flies Off…

While I have not been successful at teaching tricks, I free fly a sun conure. The hardest part to teach has been getting him down from very high trees. He can now dive bomb directly back to me like a bird of prey. At first he had to circle to come back.

Chet and Dave,

I recommend looking into falconry if you are really interested in training your birds to free fly. You should at least look at the equipment a typical falconer uses to train birds for free flight and make adjustments for smaller birds. I suggest looking at equipment sized for Kestrals and small hawks. This would be a great starting point to make certain your free flight birds won’t send you up a tree during the initial training.

I think northwoods falconry is a good outfitter, but it is expensive. You can start looking at anklets, jesses, and leashes and then if you really want to make sure your bird doesn’t get away you can invest in radio telemetry.

Andy

Aloha, I bought your training videos when my Blue and Gold was about 3-4 mos. old, and quickly ended up joining http://www.freeflight@yahoogroups.com, the one Dave recently joined.

My Toby has been free flying for over 2 years now. It is an awesome experience that I never tire of. We go out flying almost every day. I have lots of video footage of her incredible flights but not the capability (so far) of getting them on YouTube.

If you get the chance to send us some pictures of your B & G free flying that would be awesome.

Chet

That is awesome. Have you, or those you know, tried clicker training your birds? It works amazingly well with dogs, and cats, and horses… I bet it would be a great way to train free flight with birds too.

i have been freeflying parrots outside for almost four years now. the website above is full of photos from our days in new york, flying around central park and hudson river park. they were the only parrots flying in gotham and my girlfriend and her parrot join us in flying the beaches of san diego, which makes for some stunning backdrops. if you or anyone is interested in learning how to train the behavior properly, i moderate a yahoo group dedicated to teaching proper freeflight training so you don’t have to worry about your parrot ending up in trees and not coming down for hours. its called parrotrecalltraining an i encourage anyone interested in signing up. oh jesses and other falconry training equipment are NOT a good idea for use with parrots; the leg structure is different and are more easily injured by restraints.

happy flying!

hugh

I’m so glad Hugh commented on Andy B’s suggestion to use falconers’ equipment as he did.
Birds of prey have adapted to catching and holding heavy weights in their feet while they fly. A parrot has not developed this skill (no need). Their legs can break or dislocate if they are restrained by their feet or legs and try and fly.

Does anyone knows if you can take your parrot with you in an airplane?

Shew, after recently checking that free flight technique on you tube it was brilliant.I just wanted to ask you something i have an african grey as well but he keeps my granny company>so I only see him 3 hours a week is it possible to teach that technique in that space of time? My grey also wont eat anything accept is pellets and seeds caan you help?

Thanks
Gids

Oh and 1 more thing we found the african grey on our doorstep

hello there.
my name is max. I have a free flight alexandrine. Would be great to communicate with u. I like ur blog. Please – write me on my mail – scar_max@mail.ru
tnx
this is our photo – here we fly in deep russian fall;)

Depends on the airline. Each has different rules about what kinds of birds they will or will not take, and where they will be during flight. I like Alaska/Horizon Air. I am able to take my Ducorps cockatoo in the cabin with me, in a travel crate that fits under the seat.

[...] » Our $1,500 Bird Flies Off… Heres a site that can help. (they did this for outdoor flight training, but you can do it indoors also!) [...]

A few weeks ago I took my Conure ” Picky” and my cat “Connie” out for a walk near my home on a walking trail. Connie is in a cat stroller and Picky on my shoulder. As I was strolling I saw a plastic bag blowing in the wind, so I bent down to pick it up to throw it away. This spooked Picky and he flew from my shoulder to the top of a 300′ Sycamore tree in someones backyard. I was almost hysterical because I love him so much. I ran over to the house and banged on the front door. The owner let me in her backyard and I called for Picky, who had flown to the ground because He didn’t know he could fly. He had landed in an english ivy patch and was completely blended in, (since he is green as the ivy. I called him and he responded by making his screeching voice. I found him in the ivy and he gladly came onto my finger. I need flight training!!!

How refreshing to see such a diverse variety of colorful parrots flying free like the wind! I got tired of being flooded with flight photo emails of boring red fronted macaws being flown everywhere. I delete them now w/o viewing them because the phtos all look the same. At least you guys have some taste. Will you be flying all of your macaws & parrots at some point in time? I’ve noticed you have amassed quite the brilliantly colored collection! Where do we stay of we join you in Moab?

How i can train African grey parrots flight in the direction that i want?