Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!ucsd!ames!dftsrv!mimsy!mojo!linco
From: linco@eng.umd.edu (Sam C. Lin)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: INDOOR: Wing clipping
Message-ID: <1991Feb14.165445.23866@eng.umd.edu>
Date: 14 Feb 91 16:54:45 GMT
References: <1991Feb6.231825.29272@cbnewsj.att.com> <3217@legs.UUCP>
Sender: news@eng.umd.edu (C-News)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Maryversity of Uniland, College Purgatory
Lines: 34

My cockatiel is an avid flyer - he is simply breathtaking the way he
zooms about my house.  It is a shame that just as soon has he reaches
top speed, he has to turn away from the wall.  I have clipped him a
few times, because of his reluctance to return to his cage, and it has
upset him a great deal not to be able to fly well (he can fly even
with fully clipped wings, although not very well).  I would never
think of fully depriving him of his flight again - it seems that
flying is the pastime which brings him most pleasure.  He never flys
into windows - he's too smart for that - but he does tend to chew up
all my books.

on the other hand, I had a lutino cockatiel who would fly blindly into
walls and windows, and was clearly going to break her neck, so I kept
her clipped.  Unfortunately, clipping has its dangers, too.  She could
still launch herself, clipped wings and all, into crevices behind
bookcases or onto my cactus.

In fact, my goffin's cockatoo (who is clipped) often hurts his feet
when he jumps onto my hard stone floors.  I sometimes see him limping
a little after a particularly bad fall.  Therefore, I am going to try
letting him grow his flights back (he was clipped when I bought him,
and I am waiting for his first molt).

So clipping should be considered on a case by case basis.  My belief
is that it is cruel to clip a bird unless it is clearly going to hurt
itself otherwise.  This argument that birds will fly away is a crock
of cow turds.  If you are too careless to keep your windows and doors
closed when the bird is out, maybe you are too careless to own one.
And taking a bird outside even with clipped wings is stupid if the
bird is of a species that flies particularly well. Any cockatiel with
clipped wings can easily catch the slightest breeze, and disappear in
seconds.

Sam Lin