Pet Forum / Birds / Parrots / July 2004

Geordie, my 5 year old CAG, goes everywhere with me from the Post
Office which is a 10 minute walk to Bournemouth, which is a 4 hour
drive. She goes to all the shops in town and will quite happily go to
the mums and kids that always flock round her (excuse the pun)
I had to think long and hard about the Clip/Don't clip thing and in
the end, I made a compromise.
I "trim" her wings.
By that, I mean that once a month I trim a quarter of an inch from her
secondary flight feathers. She wasn't keen at first but now I can get
the scissors out and lay her down on the sink and she will stay still
while I work on her.
This way, if she falls from a hight, like the top of her cage, she can
fly enough to land safely but if we are out and about and she gets
startled like your bird did, she can only fly so far and cannot fly
"Upwards".
It may not work for everyone, but it has worked for us so far.
Steve