Teach an IRN to fly to you?

[RubyTuesday]

Is it possible to teach an IRN to fly to you? if so, how?

[Mikaela]

By giving it alot of attention and making it want to be with you. Flight, although it is majestic to watch, is not very safe for a bird. One run in with a window and you'll have a broken neck. One person leaving a ceiling fan on and Boom, dead bird. Hate to be so blunt but no other way to put it.

I dont have to mention the drawbacks of trying to train a bird with full flight. They are too numerous. I would LOVE to have both of my birds with full flight but it is simply not safe or realistic. I STRONGLY advise clipping.

Hope this helps, good luck.

[RubyTuesday]

By giving it alot of attention and making it want to be with you. Flight, although it is majestic to watch, is not very safe for a bird. One run in with a window and you'll have a broken neck. One person leaving a ceiling fan on and Boom, dead bird. Hate to be so blunt but no other way to put it.

I dont have to mention the drawbacks of trying to train a bird with full flight. They are too numerous. I would LOVE to have both of my birds with full flight but it is simply not safe or realistic. I STRONGLY advise clipping.

Hope this helps, good luck.

Thanks Mikaela,
Ruby's wings are clipped, though long enough for him to glide back and forth at short distances... I livein a small apartment, so he doesn't have far to fly... usually he flies from my shoulder while I'm sitting at my desk to his cage (appx. 4ft) His previous owners let his wings grow and gave him full flight... which is why he's still a little freaked out ontop of being in a new environment.
~ Kk

[Carly]

I trained Raja to fly to me when he was younger. i got him to do it by offering him a treat (sultana) in my hand with my arm outstretched to the side, and then patting my arm. I agree with Mikaela about flighted birds being a danger to themselves, but it was useful to me at the time as he would get up ontop of the curtains and it was hard to get him down!

[RubyTuesday]

Thanks Carly!

I'll definitely give that trick a try!

When I first brought him home, while he was sitting on my shoulder, he flew off and landed ontop of the lapshade while the light it was still on! I quickly got up and turned the lamp off. He wasn't harmed or anything, but it's his new favorite spot, since it turns around and bounces while he's on it. Now I just leave that lamp off when Ruby's out of the cage.

[Mikaela]

If your baby can only fly a short distance, that should be cool. Thing is, Irns take off like eagles... very strong flight so it doesnt take them long to get to a high rate of speed.

Windows and toilets are your biggest threat. Close the seat and the blinds and no worries!

The are suckers for food. Each time you eat (if this wont bother you later on down the road) give her a bite then sit down to eat. Call her to come holding the food up as a good enough reason. Pizza crust is like crack to an addict, they just cant refuse it!

If you have cats or dogs, remove them from sight during any training or your baby will be too distracted with not being eaten hehe. Learned this the hard way.

Let me know if you need/want anymore tricks if those dont work. Think of it as manipulating a two year old into doing what you want... same applies.

[RubyTuesday]

If your baby can only fly a short distance, that should be cool. Thing is, Irns take off like eagles... very strong flight so it doesnt take them long to get to a high rate of speed.

Windows and toilets are your biggest threat. Close the seat and the blinds and no worries!

The are suckers for food. Each time you eat (if this wont bother you later on down the road) give her a bite then sit down to eat. Call her to come holding the food up as a good enough reason. Pizza crust is like crack to an addict, they just cant refuse it!

If you have cats or dogs, remove them from sight during any training or your baby will be too distracted with not being eaten hehe. Learned this the hard way.

Let me know if you need/want anymore tricks if those dont work. Think of it as manipulating a two year old into doing what you want... same applies.

Haha! That sounds like a great tactic... I'll try this tonight.

[Melika]

I trained one of my budgies, Lemon, to fly to me. It was pretty simple.

1. Identify your bird's FAVOURITE treat. That'll be the first thing he eats from his bowl, for Lemon it was millet.

2. For a week, he has to come to you to get the treat. Try different places, just him walking to you up onto your arm or hand (Lemon was small enough to land on my palm).

3. Now you make him hop to you, from wherever he's sitting. He'll figure it out fairly quickly. And extend the space he need to hop as he catches on. He'll eventually have to flap once or twice to complete the hop.

4. From there you can make him come even further, eventually graduating to a full flight to you. You can wean him off the treat from then on, or begin using a clicker for reward along with treat then just the clicker. Lemon just liked flying, lol, so that was the reward in itself.

Also, use a command from the start. Come!, To me!, Com'ere!, Fly!; anything really. This way you can impress your friends and they'll think you have the smartest bird ever. ^_~


Since Hane, my IRN, is clipped I'm working on a variation using a target. I use a plexiglass square but you can use anything from a cheker piece to a plastic lid. I'm going to have to paint my target, since he can't see the clear plexiglass very well. Anyway, I put a treat on it and tell him "Target!" and of course he goes to the treat. Eventually I'll give him the command to target and treat him from my hand. Then I'll wean to a clicker. You can also do this after you have him flying to you. Always use the same target, which can be a playstand if you want since yours can fly. So you can have him fly off you to wherever you want. Even multiple commands, like cage! How cool would that be.

Note that if you train your bird to land on your shoulder, you may have some very startled guests (I raised a wild bird that would land on people's heads, lol) so I'd go for an upraised hand or arm. That way he won't just go landing on strangers who may freak out and scare him... And I've noticed that our IRNs poop when they're scared, so that could make for some unhappy people- LOL!

[IMR4N]

I had an IRN with PBFD which sadly meant no feathers at all just a little fluff. So she couldn’t fly . But I’m sure if he could fly then she would never leave my side. Luckily I didn’t have the chance to find out otherwise. Back to my point she would run to me when I called her. (She could open the door to the cage her self). I never used any treats to intise her as it were I guess we just bonded.

[Mikaela]

*flies over and lands on IMR4N's shoulder insisting on a treat*

[sovereign]

Funny how the cultures differ! In Finland it's almost illegal (well at least very frowned upon) to clip your pet bird's wings!:) No one really does that here. We see that it's birds' birth right to be able to fly, and it's our responsibility to see that the environment is safe for them.

[sacrebleu]

Funny how the cultures differ! In Finland it's almost illegal (well at least very frowned upon) to clip your pet bird's wings!:) No one really does that here. We see that it's birds' birth right to be able to fly, and it's our responsibility to see that the environment is safe for them.

Kinda the same feeling here in Sweden. I would never clip any of my birds, i want them too be able too fly even if it means sitting in an oven all summer

[*mia*]

Just because a bird is fligthed doesn´t meen that they flie into windows! If you haft too learn the bird what a window is. Non of my birds flie into a window even if they come to a complete new place and all my birds are fully flighted. Kalle hadn´t been outside his cage his first 2-3 years of life and he has now learnt what a window is and doesn´t flie into it, but when we come to a new place whit alot of windows I walk around whit them and show them were the windows are.
I would never ever cut my fids wings, they love to flie and do it alot, they can flie through the whole house and play
Kalle and Curre kan come when I ask them to, I just lift my arm and tell them to come and when they do so they get a treat.