advice on Hannes macaw

[wendilla]

Could someone with Hannes Macaw tell me if I should have her wings clipped .She is now 16 months old and had her wings clipped when I got her a year past oct..But now she flies to me only. She is vey tame loves being handled and talks well. I alse have a cockatiel that has always had his flight and both get out in room every day.Some people say it is cruel and I don't want to upset her in anyway .I don't mind her flying as she is not a large bird and I know she won't get out I choose my time for there out of cage play .Appreciate any replies. Thanks

[hammerman]

If everything is ok, i'd leave her as she is. The only reason most people have their wings clipped is to stop them flying off out of the window or to stop them crashing into walls and windows etc.

If you're happy with things as they are, leave them alone.

Love Hans Macaws by the way....unfortunately, i have a bird hating springer spaniel so that puts pay to me ever keeping a parrot !!!!!

Good luck

[icemaiden]

Hi Wendilla,

some time ago I answered a similar question. Some will disagree, but if I sell one of my baby Greys, then I do cut about 3-4 of the flight feathers.

I ALWAYS leave 2 or 3 at the end of the wing. This does not hurt the bird in anyway if done correctly (I have seen some awful hacking of wings in my time). I do it for safety purposes for the bird. I have known birds to fly in to windows and break their necks causing instant death. Harsh but true.

If you choose to not clip the wings then may I suggest you invest in a harness (I use the Aviator harnesses on mine) take your Macaw outside and let him/her stretch its wings. better still why not build a flight aviary in your garden so that they can fly freely but at the same time keep safe.

We have a large flight aviary for all our parrots to use and it's just lovely to see them fly.

Please please spend as much time as you can with your birds, read lots of books and trawl the internet. You will learn a lot.

I hope you have many happy times with your birds as we do.

[wendilla]

Thank you for your replies and I see your point about windows but I feel she will be ok as she is quite gentle but I would never leave her on her own out of cage in case she did get a fright such as a cat in the garden .Yes I do spend a lot of time with her ..I just felt as it was a natural thing to fly it might cause them muscle problems if they didnt get some exercise.

[icemaiden]

One of my Greys never flies and his wings are not clipped. I think he is just lazy! But he does have a good flap on top of his cage every now and then. So I wouldn't worry about any muscle loss.

Funny to watch as has to hang on for dear life otherwise he would take off.

[wildwood]

When there is no danger of the bird escaping it would be silly to prevent them from flying. It is excellent exercise and helps to keep their weight down.
If you do decide to clip the wings of your Hahn's macaw, have it done professionally, it is quite an art. Clipping just a few primary feathers is dangerous as the bird will still be able to half-pied fly and crash into things. Leave one too many feathers and when they get to a higher position they will still be able to glide and get speed up, and so escape. When they are properly clipped they will only attempt to fly once or twice and give up.