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I wrote back in January concerning our 12 year old parakeet (Jasper) who, all of a sudden, could not elevate in flight. He continues to fly fine, if occasionally a bit awkwardly; but he cannot elevate. We had him checked by an avian vet who found nothing wrong, and was scratching her head about it.

His active lifestyle of playing in a play area outside his cage has continued. In fact, he has adapted to climbing a ladder to reenter his cage, rather than flying up to it as he used to and going home as he used to.

Here is my question. Yesterday he did successfully elevate about four feet and land on top of his cage, much to our surprise. I noticed that upon landing his left wing was drooped and lowered. In a resting position, the left wing also seems situated a bit low. I am wondering if this gives any clues regarding his problem. At his age, and in view of how well he has adapted, I am hesitant to do anything; but if there is some simple problem or way we could help, it would be great to know. Thanks!

rljaco wrote:...upon landing his left wing was drooped and lowered. In a resting position, the left wing also seems situated a bit low...

My guess (and that's all it can possibly be) is that one of those tiny little bones was broken in a rough landing. An xray might help you feel better about what's limiting his flight, but rarely is there any way to repair such injuries. I'm glad he's doing so very well! Thank you for loving him so fiercely.

Paca

I remember you posting in January about Jasper. I'm also trying to wrack my brains. That's quite feasible Paca - it might be an idea to X-ray him. X-rays would also show up arthritis and gout, which might be a possibliliy at his age. How heavy is he - is he overweight? Could the drooping wings have been pure exhaustion from the exertion? Was he panting as well as the drooping wings?

He might have had an injury and it (partially) healed itself. My budgie could not lift because she was grossly obese. She was not obese because I didn't let her out to exercise or just fed her fatty foods or seeds. She is fat it because all the males stuff her face with food! BTW all the males are slim & trim. I actually never see her eat on her own.
It is a tough call because in order to slim her up I would have to isolate her from the other birds. I let her out by herself for exercise. She can lift now but she is huffing & puffing.

I just looked up your post in January. You said that Jasper has/had gout. When I went to the vet a few days ago to get Boo checked out, I told the vet about Boo falling and smashing off the tip of his beak. Without looking up Boo's records the vet said that he will have gout in his wings too. I always knew Boo had arthritis in his wings but apparently gout and arthritis are very similar. Articular gout is where the excess uric acid crystals are deposited in the joints - in Boo's case, his foot is the worst problem, but it doesn't stop the uric acid crystals also being deposited elsewhere, like in his wings.

Thanks to all for the comments. Jasper is not obese, so gout (which we know he has) is probably the source of the problem. We have increased his allupurinol back to once per day, per doctor's suggestion when he was seen in the spring.

We also question whether he could have had a mini-stroke the day this all started around January. Does that happen to birds? Literally, one day he was fine and the next he couldn't elevate -- he sort of looked around in disbelief.

Since it sounds like there is no potential "cure," and since he has adapted so well, we will probably just let things be. I guess when I am the human equivalent of 12 and a half budgie years old, I might have a few wing drooping problems myself.

Jasper could have had a mini stroke. When Boo fell and couldn't walk or perch properly (must be nearly a year ago), a vet who didn't know him thought he'd had a mini stroke, but actually he had fractured his foot - so it's possible. Just as a matter of interest, Boo has 0.05 - 0.1 ml of Allopurinol a day depending on how I think his foot is. I have become pretty good at predicting his uric acid levels so there is no point in putting him through the taking of blood process. I suppose the main thing is that Jasper is in fine spirits which tells you that he's not in pain. I have surrounded Boo's cage in bath mats (easy to clean!), just in case he launches himself off which he does every so often, to minimize the damage he can do to himself.