Teaching Our Cockatiel to Fly | Session 38, Taki's First Flight
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ม.ค. 2018
- Taki is our 8 month old Lutino cockatiel. He is most likely a "she" but we call him a "he" anyways because that's what we're used to. His wings are uneven because of a botched clip job he had before we got him.
He came to us with no tail feathers, and only one wing clipped. It was overclipped (almost to the bone) and he had many secondary feathers cut. He also had two or three secondary feathers cut on the other wing. Any time he fell, he would drop like a rock. He flew about as well as a hamster indoors.
Due to his past experience with falling, he was too scared to fly once he was able. This entire process, we've only raised the criteria (or progressed the training) for earning a treat when HE raised it himself. We never required him to flap his wings until he flapped them on his own. We never asked him to fly during a session until he flew on his own. Everything has been at his pace to allow him a safe and fun way to overcome his fear.
This is the first session where he has flown. It has taken us around 6 weeks of daily flight and recall training to get here. NEVER throw your bird up in the air or otherwise force your bird to fly- they will realize on their own that they can fly. Forcing your bird to fly will scare them and create a negative association with flying (and you!)
The bird should be allowed to show you when it's time to be flight trained and should simply practice stepping between the perch and your hand on command until then.
This clip is an edited down "highlight reel" of a 10 minute session. Taki only flew a handful of times during the session and we were not requiring him to fly to get a treat. We moved him close to the perch to "step" onto the perch if he got uncomfortable with flying. The times that he did fly, he was rewarded with a "jackpot" treat (an unusually large treat intended to communicate to the bird that what they just did was extraordinary). We will not require him to fly to earn a treat until he is willingly and without hesitation flying every single time. Then we will increase the criteria to include flying.
If your bird is not making progress as quickly, please note that that's perfectly normal and fine- every bird advances at different paces. If your bird is advancing more quickly, wonderful! If ever your bird is panting, looking tired or winded, note that they may not have built up enough wing muscle to fly the distance you're asking and may need to catch their breath by stepping back and forth to the perch for a while instead of flying. Over time, the muscle will develop and it will be possible to ask your bird to fly a larger distance or more repetitions.
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ON WING CLIPPING AND GOING OUSIDE:
ALL birds, clipped or not, can fly when outdoors with the help of the slightest bit of wind. Even with his horrible botched clip job, Taki once got spooked while wearing his harness outside and flew to the end of the 7 foot elastic leash. With the help of the wind (which was not even strong enough to fly a kite with) he did 2 full circles above my head before coming down. To put that into perspective, he flew around 58 feet- and I fully believe he would've flown "further" if he hadn't realized the leash was keeping him from going anywhere. If he had not been on a harness, he would've flown away- and this is the same bird that flew about as well as a hamster when spooked indoors because he was overclipped and missing his secondaries. I'm not confident I could've run to him to pick him up before he may have flown again, and the situation made me very grateful that I've always been of the opinion that birds should wear harnesses outdoors no matter what. ALWAYS assume your bird can fly, even if you think they can't. A spooked bird will surprise you and that's a surprise you can afford to chance outside!
I love the command "accio" to get the bird to come to you.
Nice chicken costume 🤪
😆Amazing bird,
So beautiful! :D