Should You Clip Your Pet Parakeet's or Lovebird's Wings?

Wing clipping is a much debated subject among bird owners with many opinions. I personally do not like to clip my birds' wings, preferring the natural beauty of unclipped wings and wanting my birds to be able to fly. There are times though, when it is necessary for the safety and/or taming of a bird. Once a bird is tamed, I will not clip their wings again unless it becomes absolutely necessary for the bird's safety. The following are situations when it can be necessary to clip a bird's wings.

Barely hand tamed birds that had babies. I became the owner of a pair of parakeets, ages six and two, that had never been handled or even out of their cage. For me, wing clipping is a last resort, so I worked with them little by little to hand tame them. They were absolutely terrified of my hand being in their cage, flapping around and squawking in fear. This behavior didn't ease up with time, so I would simply take the top off their cage so they could come out and fly around the room. Once they had been out for a little while, getting some much needed exercise from flying, I would start to approach them, talking calmly to them while presenting my hand for a perch. This worked very quickly with the six year old male ( Luke), but he would then fly off to be with his mate. I just kept trying until the two year old female (Leia) calmed down enough to sit on my hand with the male. She was obviously scared, because her little body was shaking and she would take off after a couple of minutes. I continued to work with them in this manner several days a week and little by little, it got better. Leah was a biter though and you never knew when she would decide that she needed to bite you really hard. Then lo and behold, they had babies and all the hard work spent to hand tame the female was gone. She became completely wild and fearful, even worse than before. I thought the little thing would die of a heart attack every time we cleaned the cage. Once the babies were between three to four weeks old, I started to handle them as well as mom and dad again. There was no taming Leia this time though. She was biting hard and wouldn't sit on my hand no matter what. She was also flying wildly around the room in such a way that she could seriously injure herself. Because of Leia's wild behavior, Luke would barely sit on my hand and most of the time wouldn't. I finally decided to clip their wings for Leia's safety and to be able to start the hand taming process over again. Clipping immediately made a huge difference. Leia was obviously still very scared, but once she realized she couldn't fly all over the room, she settled down enough to sit on my hand for a little while with Luke. I am still currently working with them to earn their trust and help them overcome their fears. Once they become tamed, I will no longer clip them.

For safety while hand taming babies. When Luke and Leia had four baby parakeets, my goal was to hand tame the babies without any wing clipping. I started to handle them before they could fly so they would be used to me and not be afraid. This went well at first, but I believe Leia's obvious fear caused problems once their ability to fly kicked in. Babies that didn't bite at first, started to bite hard like their mom. When each one started to fly, they were running into walls and the ceiling and going behind furniture. It was obvious they were learning some bad habits from their mom and I was afraid they would get hurt running into things while flying, so I decided it was best for their safety to clip their wings. I literally cried after clipping the first baby. I had really hoped to never clip them. They were so pretty with their new feathers all grown in and they hadn't known how to fly that long. I just felt mean clipping their beautiful wings. It has definitely had benefits though. Their safety is no longer a concern now that they can not fly into walls or ceilings or behind furniture. They will also sit on my hand content, especially if I get two out at a time and let them sit together as this makes them feel more secure. I've even had a couple of the babies give me "kisses". I am still working to get them completely hand-tamed. Two of them like to bite hard like their mom before they will settle down to sit on my hand. I am confident that with continued work and patience, they will become hand tamed and then I will not need to clip them again.

To tame birds that are difficult to hand tame. Some birds can just be difficult to hand tame, not because they are mean or afraid, but just because they don't want to. I came across this with a pair of Lovebirds, Kiwi and Papaya. When they were out of their cage, they preferred to just fly back and forth from curtain rod to curtain rod than to even think about sitting on your hand. After dealing with this for some time without any progress, I gave in and clipped their wings so I could tame them. Without being able to fly high up onto the curtain rods, they were completely content to sit on my hand and were quite interested in me. They weren't afraid of me and soon became very affectionate, even giving me "kisses". After clipping them one time and hand taming them, I never had to clip them again. They would be little stinkers at times and go up onto the curtain rods, but they would let me retrieve them and sit on my hand for a long time, interacting with me and each other.

Though I do not like to clip my birds' wings, each of these situations called for it and was found to be very beneficial. It can be a very hard decision for some to make, but you must make the best decision for the safety and well being of the bird. An untamed, fearful bird can cause its own death with frantic flying around a room. Young birds that are not completely tamed may seriously injure themselves by running into walls and ceilings or by falling behind furniture. Remember that if you find it necessary to clip your bird's wings, it doesn't have to be permanent. Birds molt and their feathers will grow back in. Once a bird is tamed, it is very likely that you will not have to clip them again. It helps to see that a middle ground can be found when it comes to wing clipping.

Tips and warnings.

If you are not experienced or have not been trained to clip birds wings, DO NOT do it yourself. Take them to someone that is experienced in wing clipping and can teach you how to do it properly. I have been experienced in clipping wings for fifteen years and was trained by someone that raised birds. If you do not know what you are doing, you could seriously injure the bird and render it flightless for the rest of it's life.

It is best for a clip to not make a bird completely flightless or they may be injured by falling to the ground rather hard. A good clip should partially flight a bird, keeping it from gaining height, but allowing it to glide down to the floor or across to its cage.

Pet birds should not be allowed to fly all around the house as there are many dangers to their safety. You should have a specific room for your birds to fly in that has a door you can close while they are out. Before letting your birds out to fly, you need to cover windows and mirrors because a bird will often fly right into these and could break their neck.