Will this bird ever fly again?

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Donovan
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Location: North Carolina

Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by Donovan »

He's about 8 and a half months old now. The people clipped him as soon as he flew the first time and i've seen no sign of feathers growing back. He seems to be molting perpetually. Always has the fluffy feathers all over the cage, so I keep expecting flight feathers to come in, but they haven't so i'm concerned he may have been clipped too hard... i have no knowledge of good clip vs bad clip.

So was he cut so hard they'll never grow back? or am i just waiting on the right molt


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willowisp71
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Location: Bunbury, Western Australia

Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by willowisp71 »

oh, wow. :(

I've not ever clipped my birds wings, so I could be wrong, but that looks like a pretty severe clip. I don't think I've seen any pics of other birds with flights clipped that short.

Hopefully someone else on this forum with more knowledge can give their opinion?
Regards Deb
MissK
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by MissK »

I know how you feel. Sinbad has not moulted and it is making me *crazy*. However, unless the actual wing, where the feathers come from, was damaged, then I feel confident feathers will grow back in eventually. Hang in there. See if you can encourage some flapping so he'll have some muscle when the time comes. Is he able to glide at all yet? Unless he still drops like a stone, if he were mine, I might lay a couple of fluffy quilts on the floor and let him do some gliding.
-MissK
Donovan
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by Donovan »

More other bird was clipped when I got him. He was 6 months old at the time. I think he was 12-14 months when he started flying.
That place where I bought the bird in the picture really lectured and scolded me for having a flighted bird. They are very anti flight. I wouldn't put it past them to intentionally cut the wings too much.
SunniDai
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by SunniDai »

When we first got Olive last December, she had a pretty severe wing clip, too. They looked all crooked and almost mangled. We had to clip just to even it all out and worried that she might never fly. Now, eight months later, she has begun flying. And quite well. :) I still don't see full flight feathers, but they are growing out even still, and she can fly from the floor to the top of the cage, and also from the top of the cage, around a corner, down the hall, around another corner, and land in front of her night cage. It's great to watch.
~Dana

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Donovan
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by Donovan »

Sunni, was your bird under a year old?
InTheAir
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by InTheAir »

I believe that they only have a partial moult at somewhere around 6 months, which is tail and body feathers. The first full moult occurs after they are a year old, I'm not sure of the exact ages.
SunniDai
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by SunniDai »

Donovan, we aren't completely sure how old she was. We were told that she was about four years old and a male. *_* (Obviously the pet store had no idea what they had. They thought she was some kind of conure!! What the what???)
Needless to say, after observing her for about a week, we came to the conclusion that she was probably closer to six months old due to her clumsiness that Sunni Dai had when she was about that young. So ya, she was under a year.
And ya, Olive molted real hard after about six months of her being here. Tail stubby. Scruffy looking. Her flight feathers are growing back in, and her tail is still stubby, but I see some new growth there.
~Dana

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MissK
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by MissK »

Usually I don't really care about the particular smilies we have for use here, but this comment
They thought she was some kind of conure!! What the what???
had me wishing for the one of the smilie rolling and laughing and kicking its little feet......
-MissK
MissK
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by MissK »

BTW, the astute observer that I am, I have noticed that this bird we're discussing is neither BLUE nor YELLOW.
Donovan, did I miss something?
-MissK
Donovan
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by Donovan »

MissK wrote:BTW, the astute observer that I am, I have noticed that this bird we're discussing is neither BLUE nor YELLOW.
Donovan, did I miss something?
It's Neko.. he's quite yellow.. it's just bad camera quality in mediocre light... this was during his shower over the weekened.
willowisp71
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Location: Bunbury, Western Australia

Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by willowisp71 »

MissK wrote:Usually I don't really care about the particular smilies we have for use here, but this comment
They thought she was some kind of conure!! What the what???
had me wishing for the one of the smilie rolling and laughing and kicking its little feet......
LOL, MissK……YES!! I'm sure there have been multiple moments where a smilie like that would have been entirely appropriate! :lol: :lol: :lol:

And, yeah, sorry Donovan - I missed the fact that Neko is only 8 months old, so hopefully when he has his first full moult, his flights will grow back in nicely :)

Fluffy quilts on the floor, and encouragement to glide would be a great start. My pair just love to tear around the house - I can often hear in my head their flight conversation…."BANK LEFT!! BANK RIGHT!! HARD RIGHT!! HARD RIGHT!!….ABORT! ABORT! THEY'VE CLOSED THE BATHROOM DOOR!" WHUMP!! :o :shock: :lol:
Regards Deb
MissK
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by MissK »

Sinbad does some crazy stuff in the air in my house, but I think if he ever settles down he will be a great house flier. Right now he seems to suffer from limitations (walls) in the way. I think he's looking for a way out. Rocky just usually flies in the house to get from A to B. Maybe it's a tameness thing. The time Sinbad flew right into the door of his cage has me on both sides of the fence. Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe he's just putting me on.

Kind of hijacking this thread, I'd be interested to know how other people's birds react once they end up on the ground. Rocky used to fly into stuff and hang on, but if he slid down to the floor he would just get up and start walking. When Sinbad hits things he generally goes down and there he sprawls with his wings extended and his tail spread kind of leaning forward, not upright to walk. He also hops in his cage as much as walking. I can't decide if this is just his style, or if maybe his feet are not quite right, or maybe he flies faster and so hits stuff harder (than Rocky does). He can land successfully on the branch or the plant or the side of the cage.
-MissK
willowisp71
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by willowisp71 »

My two often fly down to the floor - (Pepper not so much ATM, as she is sitting on eggs) - to spend time walking around investigating - or go through the pile of 'bird debris' I've just swept up, in case there's a tasty morsel of food they'd put aside for a later date that mummy has rudely moved to the other side of the room with that long skinny tree branch, with the funny fluffy stuff on the bottom :D

They both walk around fine on the floor -and sometimes Skittles will do this funny little strut thing, like a soldier walking in a parade, pausing between each step - then one of them would find half a cashew nut, or something, and Bam! the chase would be on! Hilarious, watching them both running as fast as they can, one to get away with the goods, the other trying to catch up, lunging for the other one's tail in an attempt to foil their escape :lol: :lol: :lol:
Regards Deb
Donovan
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by Donovan »

Well I spoke too soon.. my bird's flight feathers have been coming in ever since i posted this.. i expect he'll be a flyer next month or so.
MissK
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Re: Will this bird ever fly again?

Post by MissK »

Great news! Ask him to have a word with the feather miser in my house, would ya?
-MissK
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