quaker free flight

[mrgoogls]

so, lately, i have been thinking about letting cooper's flight feathers grow in. i dont know for sure yet, but it is a good possibility. so, to the question, is a quaker a good candidate for free flight? i know it rerquires a lot of training (unless you are mare and amigo...... :th_loltears:). i would NEVER let him fly outside until i am completely confident, probably a few years after i started to flight train him. until then it would be indoors or outside on a harness. but just thinking, most free flighted birds are cockatoos and macaws, or other large birds. how would he do because he is so small? i have seen videos of sun conures and goffins free flying outside. also, with the enviroment here in western ny, it is a lot of trees. especially where i live. even in the suburbs. i have 5 trees in my yard alone. and i cant really go anywhere with no houses because that usually is either a farm, or filled with trees. that has me wondering too because all the free flight i see is either in giant fields, or a desert/arid environment. sorry this post was a bit long. its just a lot to think about. and just again, cooper will NOT be free flighing for a while, so no need to worry about that. (yet hopefully, after a lot and lot of training)

[Mare]

Oh, believe me, Kenny, amigo required ALOT of training. Not the classical free flight training that you read about with clickers but many, many hours of dedicated watching and calling and calling and calling to him. It was super scary and some would call foolish on my part. I didn't know anything about clicker training, had never even heard of it when we started out with Amigo. I DID know I had a solid bond with my bird and if I hadn't felt that, I never would have attempted free flight with him.

I believe people tend to free fly larger birds than Quakers is for the predator factor and that IS a real threat. Amigo has tangled with a red-tail hawk that took him down. Amigo survived, unharmed, wiser for the experience but would not have had a chance if he were a smaller bird. I would suggest to you to try and find a large empty building, closed in arena, airport hanger, somewhere that your bird could feel free to learn without mishap. You want your bird to come to you and want to be with you when you ask. Keep your bird safe, my young friend :)

[mrgoogls]

haha thanks mare! i know amigo took some training, just not the *normal* kind. i can try to find a nice big building. thatsca good idea. hopefully some day i can work up the confidence to take him outside

[ShellyBorg]

[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks] this guy free fly's his Senegal. I am not a fan of the little guys flying as they are a target of predators, but he has sound advice and training techniques.

[Mare]

It definitely takes confidence and a whole lot of faith to set your bird free outside, untethered for the first time. This is why you had better have his undying love for you, without a doubt, in the bag. You better KNOW that you and Cooper have a very strong bond. If you are not sure how you know this, then don't attempt free flight because if you have to question it, it means you're not ready. This, to me, is serious stuff and to this day I worry about my boy out there. The only reason I continue is because it is part of who he is, now.

[mrgoogls]

thanks! i have seen his videos and blogs before. he has some good info. i defiantly don't every plan to free fly cooper like people do with their macaws, like just letting hem fly in circles for however long. i will probably be more of, fly from point a to point b. and not for a long period of time, and of course be aware of hawks.

[mrgoogls]

oh, mare i guess we posted at the same time. i agree with you. like i said, it will probably be a few years at LEAST until i let him outside(without his harness).