For caged birds, I recommend at least 3 hours a day out of the cage with opportunities for flight.
Safety Precautions
Below are my recommendations for in-home flight safety:
- Keep your bird confined to one room. My birds live in an extra bedroom that is very long. I recommend keeping your bird in one room with a door (closed) while she's flying. Or, if you have no other pets, you could also just close off rooms you don't want your bird to fly into, such as the kitchen or bathroom.
- Keep other pets away from your bird. Cats, some breeds of dogs, ferrets, and even other birds can be very dangerous for birds, flighted or not. I have a cat who is never allowed in the same room as my birds. Some breeds of dogs are bred for hunting, and ferrets naturally feed on birds. Keep all of them away from your birds.
- Secure all doors and windows. One of the worst situations imaginable is that your bird could get out of your home and fly away. Having never seen your house from the outside, or from above, she'll have no idea how to get back. Most birds do not have the skills to survive in the wild, especially if you live in a harsh climate.
- Cover mirrors and windows. Birds have been known to break their necks after crashing into doors and mirrors, thinking they were open space. Pull down shades on your windows and put something over your mirrors to avoid this.
- Turn off ceiling fans. This one is pretty much self-explanatory. Birds can be killed by these fans.
- Supervise your bird at all times. Flighted birds can get into all sorts of things. Don't let your bird chew on unsafe materials, like electrical cords, computer wires, etc. Be careful of halogen lamps that your bird could land on. Remove all toxic substances from the room (toxic plants, toxic metals, etc).
Clipping Doesn't Necessarily Protect Your Bird
Lots of people assume that a clipped bird is more safe than a flighted bird. But clipped birds face many dangers as well. Clipped birds have a tendency to walk around on the floor, where they can be stepped on, attacked by a family pet, or worse. Also, clipped birds may still be able to fly if they get outside. Some birds need only a gust of wind and some adrenaline to get them off the ground. When I was younger, I had a Cockatiel named Charlie who I took outside a lot. Her wings were always clipped. I was playing with her in our front yard one day when something startled her and she hopped off my hand. She caught the wind just right and flew off down the street! She could only get a few feet off the ground, but she flew quite a distance before I was able to catch her. Seeing your bird fly away is so scary! Don't be lulled into a false sense of security by clipped wing feathers.
Build an Aviary or Flight Cage!
Aviaries allow birds much more room than cages do, promoting flight and a more natural living environment. Aviaries can be kept indoors or outdoors. I've even seen a few that are both! Sometimes people will use a screened-in porch as an aviary, allowing birds exposure to fresh air and sunshine on nice days, and allowing the birds to retreat indoors when it's cold or at night.
Teach Your Bird Recall Commands
Birds can be taught commands to return to you anytime they are flying. These recall commands are a great tool should your bird ever escape to the outdoors. You can start training your bird anytime, and simply reinforce any time your bird comes in your general direction voluntarily with a food treat. Say a recall command, like "come" when the bird comes to you. Slowly change the reinforcement to happen only when the bird actually comes to you. Then only reinforce when the bird comes quickly. You can shape your bird's behavior using simple operant conditioning techniques. Obviously outdoor training can be more complicated and I don't recommend it unless you're working closely with an expert.
I truly believe that a bird who can fly is happier and healthier than a bird who cannot. Obviously there are some instances when birds need to be clipped for isolated safety issues, but in general, flight can be extremely beneficial for your bird provided you take precautions.
Letting Your Bird Fly Safely
Flight is what birds were designed to do. I firmly believe that it is possible to allow captive birds the ability to fly in our homes safely, and that flight benefits birds both psychologically and physically. A bird's respiratory system works best when she is allowed flight.
If your bird came to you clipped, she will probably need some time to learn how to fly properly. When my Cockatiels were younger, neither of them were very good fliers. Lucy, my Cinnamon, would often fly into weird spots like the closet or on top of the refrigerator, and then not make a sound, which would make me crazy looking for her. Sophie, my Lutino, was a terrible flier at first. He could never figure out how to land or get where he really wanted to go. Over time, they both became great fliers. My Grey Isabel came to me with a very severe wing clip, causing her to chew on the cut ends and causing her to break some of her new blood feathers because they were not protected by existing wing feathers. She had a hard time landing and often ended up bumping into furniture and falling to the ground. Now she's an excellent flier.
