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Molly is just coming up 3 yrs and has been clipped once. I did not clip her last flight feathers and allowed her to 'learn' how to fly, which I must admit has been rather amusing as she is like a hippo when she lands. She has never flown further than a few feet, and never seemed interested in going further......until yesterday. She always makes the rounds with me, perched on my shoulder 'purring at the sights', when I check out the garden. We have this huge tree in a vacant field about 100 ft away. A huge gust of wind came up and spooked Molly and off she went. OMG I was devastated!!!! I looked like an idiot trying to run after her screaming her name, as she flew higher and higher and landed at the top of this tree. Happy ending though, she is home safe and sound. Clipped I might add, and I have aged 15 years. She will remain a clipped bird, and her parront has will longer be an idiot and ASSUME that her flighted bird won't fly....DUH.....
Please don't berate me.....the reliving nightmare all night long and everytime I close my eyes has done enough to me...

The same thing happened to me 11 years ago, when my young B&G flew for the first time. For 6 interminable days, I tracked her, thinking each time she flew it might be the last time I'd ever see her ... alive The horrible experience certainly changed me forever. I try hard to help folks who are new to birds understand the terrible consequences of a careless decision.

I'm so glad you were lucky too.

Paca

I'm glad you were lucky too! I posted on a similar topic awhile back that I didn't clip my BH Caique since she prefers to hop rather than fly (I know - naive comes to mind). Yesterday I had her on my hand getting ready to take her upstairs to her play center when one of my macaws went off. Let me tell you - she didn't hop she flew!! Fortunately we were in the house and all was closed up tight so she ended up landing on the kitchen table upstairs. It could have been so much worse......now she is clipped.

Beaker came to me from my breeder with slightly trimmed flights and I've always kept them that way. When they begin to grow out a bit, I take him to my avian vet who trims them again. He can still 'get away' from something if he happens to get frightened and thinks he needs to fly, but he does just fine with a slight trim.

Thanks !
LOL....that feeling when your heart gets lodged in your throat...OMG...it will stay with me forever. I thought those days were gone after my kids had all grown up...LOL. Gotta love these darlings feathered babes!

Brady is fully-flighted and has been for awhile now. I like having him flighted better than having his wings clipped... he took some pretty hard falls when his wings were clipped. However, Brady is NOT a strong flyer and only tends to take off when something scares him. I'm under the impression that his wings were clipped before he ever truly learned to fly as a baby (poor thing!). He's getting better, though. His playgym is a quick flight to his big cage, so he has started taking the liberty of flying back and forth between the two on his own. I also think that his flight capabilities have cut down on a problematic screaming behavior he had developed about a year ago when we first moved into our new apartment. Now that he has more freedom to get around on his own (and therefore the ability to make choices on his own), he is less dependent on us to move him from one place to another and screams for us less.

In the end, it's your own decision, but if you let your birds' wings grow out, PLEASE be careful for the safety of your bird, especially if you have a kitchen that is easily accessible to the bird or large plate glass windows (like patio doors) in your home. We are lucky to have neither of these conditions in our apartment, and I would be less likely to keep Brady's wings clipped if we did.

I should add that I no longer allow Brady outside without being inside some sort of enclosure. A long time ago, I had a scary moment with another bird that took off outdoors when I didn't think she could fly... I learned my lesson! However, when we're out at my in-laws' vacation home in Long Island, I let Brady sit outside with us by the pool, inside his travel cage. He loves it, regardless of the fact that he's in his cage! He just soaks up the sun and whistles at all the other passing birds!

Here's a heartrending thread about two escapees who could use our prayers right now: http://www.quakerparrots.com/forum/inde ... 28527&st=0