Don't take their wings away

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mechanicalmasochist's avatar
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Okay I don't know why but everytime I see someone with a clipped bird heck even a picture of one I get really mad or upset and really want to try and reason with the owner about it


and I know I should calm down about that as its not my right to say but its just, I cant help it.

I find it even worse when I see photo's of the same bird with full primaries and  then newer images with it clipped I just really feel people aren't taking into consideration the birds needs and only their own.

though I guess looking up the effects of wing clipping lately probably hasn't helped

(as it turns out to no surprise wing clipping as a psychological effect on the bird causing them to be more fearful of  things passing over their head and an extreme fear of falling which obviously would not occur in a flighted bird)


I just feel people aren't doing their research on how it effects their birds mental health which is very important!



yeah i knwo I've ranted about this before but I just needed to rant again to stop myself  sending messages and  and stuff.

(they wouldn't be mean messages but i knwo people get very offended if you tell them what they re doing is not in the best interest of their bird. as people who clip their birds do love them but usually don't see the problem because they are used to how a clipped bird behaves and thus consider any possible symptoms normal.)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

reposting my longer rant here so I can stop repeating myself in the comments:

As promised here is my full blowing rant on my opinion on wing clipping and the reasons why I am thoroughly against it, though i am not the best writer i do have a lot of experience with birds including having owned them for several years, having family members who have been hobbyist breeders, having experience working with birds of prey as voluntary staff and finally having completed a course in animal care in which I created  a research paper on the effects wing clipping has on a bird:



though wing clipping may seem like a good idea to prevent a bird escaping
it is known that clipped birds , if they get out side and panic  can easily get lift if their is any wind and be blown away.

Now a clipped bird has no chance of survival while a flighted bird does.
in fact it is much easier to recover a flighted bird.

one example would be the time my grandad walked outside with one of our budgies on his shoulder, a simple mistake and the bird flew off panicked and landed in a nearby tree.

my grandma immediately went outside and hung its cage on the washing line, the bird seeing it home flew straight back in

I have also learned that training your bird to fly to you can actually allow you to recall it if it ever escapes outside and actually training your bird to become free flighted (but still keeping it indoors and not free flying it just teaching it how to) will make losing your bird  very unlikely  as you will be able to recall it and it will be strong enough and familiar enough with open spaces to be recalled (people will often use a large room in their house or a gym to train free flying)


it also should be mentioned that a clipped bird is susceptible to just as many dangers such as falling from something if startled and injuring itself.

getting stepped on or having something fall on it.

or being caught by another family pet.


now aside from the physical effects the mental effects should be taken very seriously;

catching a bird to clip it causes a great deal of stress and as we know less hardy birds can die from this now because wing clipping has to be done  more than once  (in fact throughout the bird's life) this means you are causing stress for the bird  a lot more than possibly is necessary.

the mental side effects also have a negative effect  and more so on a bird that was previously flighted.

as this bird will try to fly and then suddenly find t can't now because flying is a bird's main method locomotion it itself will feel vulnerable and will be well aware that it is disabled.

I've been told a just clipped bird will often sit preen its wings for hours trying o correct the problem  it is having and often this can lead to the bird becoming an obsessive preener which can cause feather damage.

the bird will also feel a lot less confident in itself and as a result will be a lot more wary of objects passing over it  or being near the edge of something.

this of course is not normal for an animal which should have no fear of heights and unnatural for the animal


in extreme cases birds can become depressed (this is most common with birds that have previously been flighted for a long time or live with flighted birds) and begin feather plucking, lashing out at toys and fingers and screaming.

finally wing clipping has a negative effect on the respiratory system as  a bird's lungs are built for flying (they contain many air sacs and every  thing in their body from bone structure to organs to their feathery outsides has been designed for flight)  if they are not allowed to fly their respiratory system does not reach its full capacity and thus they end up with weaker a weaker one.
though this may seem not like much of an issue sine the bird has no need to fly it does mean that if a bird does get in a panic of flutter it will get out of breath quicker (making stress in to an issue again) it will also mean your bird will be more susceptible to respiratory infections which are often a big problem among birds and can result in death if untreated.

it should also be noted that the lack of flight also means your bird does not get as much stimuli as it would naturally if flighted
this means your bird cannot excessive itself properly and can result in a bird which is very lazy and risks becoming overweight or obese.

which in such a small animal can be a major problem.

So in my opinion wing clipping really is not a fair option to the bird  and when owning a pet I believe the owner should be most concerned with the mental and physical well being of their pet and not on the convenience of their pet.

there are many other option other than wing clipping such as simply shutting a door and placing a sign on it to let people know when your bird it out, placing beaded curtains in front of your door will also help prevent a bird escaping so there are many options to explore before reaching clipping.


finally I will leave with a rhetorical question:


If you had a dog that ran to escape out your front door every time you answered it;

would you consider crippling your dog so it couldn't run out the door?

or would you buy a baby gate or perhaps lock the dog away when you had to open the front door instead?


this is a question my mother told me after I first mentioned wing clipping to her after finding out it was commonplace overseas, her opinion I believe she makes quite clear.

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froggyribbit's avatar
i'm not sure what side I am on, but don't you have to reassure and calm you're bird before and after the wing clipping? I've seen plenty of birds with clipped wings that are very happy. Also if you have a bird you really shouldn't have any cats/dogs that can become a threat nor should you be unaware when the bird is walking around. A good bird owner knows where their bird is at all times. Crippling a dog is not like clipping a bird. Clipping a bird is painless, and they can still move while crippling a dog is just......plain wrong. At the same time, my bird's wings are not clipped mainly because she won't let me (she's untamed :P)