Photo credit to the UK Cockatoo Sanctuary & Rescue.
Click their name to learn more about this great rescue!
The ever-so-popular and controversial question regarding bird care. To clip or not to clip? Many different people will give you many different answers. But because you've chose us for your cockatoo care help, we thought it was only fair to put our two-cents out there. We are in no way saying what you should do, we are simply giving our statement about what we do and why we do it.
So do we clip our cockatoo's wings? No- we do not clip any bird's wings. Many veterinarians and aviary experts will tell you that you MUST clip your bird's wings. If you don't they will become unattached, independent, and have behavior problems. In our experience absolutely none of those things are true. Clipping a bird's wings does not determine it's behavior- nor does it deter a bird from behaving badly. So if you are clipping your bird's wings merely to prevent behavior problems, you are doing it for the wrong reason.
Other people clip their bird's wings for safety reasons. "So they don't fly away." To a certain extent we can understand this- but we still don't agree with it. Bird's were meant to fly. It's why they have wings. It's why they have feathers. They're entire body is meant for flight- from the tip of their tail to the top of their head. And that is why we let our bird's fly freely- with unclipped wings.
We believe that all birds should have the ability to fly. And we see major changes in birds with wings clipped than birds with full wings. Most of these changes are directly related to the bird's mood. Bird's with clipped wings tend to exhibit shy, scared, and sometimes even aggressive behavior. Why? A bird's ability to fly helps it escape predators. Even the most domesticated birds still have natural instincts. When a bird threatened or scared- it's first act of protecting itself is to fly away. When you take away a bird's ability to protect itself- you strip it of it's self-confidence. Granted, there are situations where many birds will happily continue to function without flight. But other bird's do not adapt the change as well. They become very scared and 'jumpy'. This is caused by their instinctual need to fly- and when that ability is taken away from them their instincts take over and they become very paranoid of possible 'predators' (which can be everything from a shadow to the sound of a passing car outside).
Bird's with clipped wings also tend to hurt themselves more easily. When a bird's wings are clipped they are more likely to lose balance, fall, and 'accidentally' take flight from high places- only to land very uncomfortably on the floor. Birds use their wings to do everything from climb, to groom, to (of course) fly. And although many owners clip their bird's wings to keep them safe- they also give their bird's more opportunities to get hurt.
So our alternative is to simply 'let birds be birds'. We let them fly! Of course, naturally, we need to take extra precautions to do so. The birds must only be let free in safe environments free of ceiling fans, open windows, and places to easily escape from. The enclosed spaces must be large enough for them to fly about- yet small enough for them not to gain enough speed to accidentally run into something and hurt themselves. And all of these things are taken into great consideration. But once we have ensured a safe and inescapable environment, we can feel comfortable letting our birds roam at their leisure. They're carefree attitudes and happy-go-lucky moments of flight let us rest assured we made the right decision. And although we believe that each owner should make their own decision- when it comes to our personal opinions, our birds will always remain unclipped.
