PDA

View Full Version : What to do if your bird flys away



Lady
05-14-2016, 02:13 AM
Hi Everyone,

I've been thinking... do we know what to do if our bird should somehow fly away by accident. A loud noise or whatever. What would you do? I know some of us have had such an experience so maybe we can help others by telling how we dealt with it or even post some links that have more information. This is a link I found and although I don't have first hand experience I hope it is helpful.

[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

[Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]

Mare
05-14-2016, 02:32 AM
Alice, those are very informative sites, I don't know what more I could add. Amigo being a free flyer in his younger days/learning to free fly days..flew across the valley where I could barely see this little white speck. I thought the backpack was going to be brought out, for my water bottles, I thought I was going to have to do the "trek" to go get him.

What saved us was our contact call. Having a call that your bird knows is super important.

Lady
05-14-2016, 03:57 AM
Great info Mare,
So one should teach a contact call, you have proven it to be helpful.
Thanks

Mare
05-14-2016, 04:32 AM
You're welcome, Alice :). I'm not familiar with other species of birds but cockatoo's are/mine are, very vocal. When Amigo is patrolling the property he is squawking his whole flight. When he was this itty-bitty speck across the valley..he was squawking and I squawked back, it's what brought him home.

Casper's 2nd best friend
05-14-2016, 09:56 AM
There is a clip on U-tube of a pair of amazons free flying in Spain shouting Ola Ola (Hello Hello). It must be confusing for people who don't know what is going on. :)

Caspers calling cry is
erh-erh-EURGH

Lady
05-16-2016, 03:07 AM
I have to pay closer attention to Lady, she seems to have many calls. When she is in my view she bounces up and down but calls at the same time. Her pitch is pretty much the same so it is difficult for me to tell just from her voice.

Mare
05-16-2016, 08:07 PM
I'm not sure if most folks do this but when I'm not in the same room with my bird and he/or she calls to me..I call back with the same "contact" noise. If I'm outside and hear Sassy inside the house, calling..I'll call back. There is NO way I could duplicate her pterodactyl call but I DO call her back, so, she recognizes my call.

lolsavannahh
05-17-2016, 02:13 AM
I am considering using Nash's old cage for his outdoor cage this summer, and although I trust it, him being outside and flighted still worries me. The contact call is a good one! Nash has learned how to mimic me saying " wee-ooo-eeww" really fast so I think I would do that... There are many birds of prey in our area and he is very small so I would be worried about that.. Too many trees!

Casper's 2nd best friend
05-17-2016, 11:18 AM
I phones have tracking inbuilt I believe, so you can find out where your phone is if lost of stolen. So, equip your bird with one... and if you can teach it to use skype you can ask it what time it is coming home :)

Mare
05-17-2016, 02:14 PM
Jean-Pierre..thanks for my 1st smile of the day!! :)

Lady
05-17-2016, 11:54 PM
Humm, maybe we could teach them to use Zello. It's an app that is like a walkie talkie.

On the serious side, I was thinking about a chip like the ones they put under the skin of dogs. Wonder if that could be used for tracking? I think their called lo jac in cars?

Casper's 2nd best friend
05-18-2016, 09:04 AM
You can get your parrot chipped in the UK, What you have suggested sounds an excellent idea, depending on how big the chips used in cars are I should imagine the facility will be available for parrots eventually, if not sooner. Stand by, I'll see what I can find out.

kendrafitz
05-18-2016, 10:45 AM
Rosie has a chip. But hers needs to be scanned when she is found. No tracking abilities. Would be awesome if they are available. :)

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

Casper's 2nd best friend
05-18-2016, 11:48 AM
Here we go: [Users must be registered and logged in to view attached photos or hyperlinks]
Bayer is a huge international medical company, not some fly-by-night start-up operation.
Google is your friend :)
Edit/ this is not a tracker :( just a microchip with a misleading name. I'll carry on searching.

Lady
05-19-2016, 03:06 AM
Wow who knew that the UK government is expecting all dogs to be chipped and registered by the time they are 8 weeks old. I wonder what happens to those who are not? Don't think it will be good. I hope it helps the dogs to be found if lost.
The site you posted does show pics of parrots too. But like Kendra mentioned, Rosie has a chip but has to be scanned in order to know who she belongs to so I'm thinking maybe we don't have a tracking system for them yet. I haven't begun to look but I will be searching myself and keeping an eye out for it as I'm sure someone will make it possible.

Thanks for searching Jean-Pierre, I'll do some searching too over the weekend.

PlaxMacaws
05-19-2016, 02:18 PM
A tracking chip/circuit may not be such a good idea. While they're becoming smaller, tracking chips are actually miniature radio transmitters and they thus emit RF energy (Radio Frequency waves). Unlike the implanted inert identifications chips (such as the ones Rosie and Zaf have), which only resonate when scanned by a near field RF signal of the correct frequency, tracking chips transmit a continuous pulsed signal. And since they are essentially self-contained radio transmitters, each requires a power source (such as a battery) which takes space and adds extra weight. These things are available for children and elderly folks -one company places their device within the sole of a shoe- but I'm not sure I would want one of them implanted in my bird's flesh.

PlaxMacaws
05-19-2016, 03:40 PM
Just so you can get an idea on size for the current technology, here's an image of the shoe sole tracking circuit:

4108

It requires periodic charging. And as you can see, the package is much too large for a bird. Beyond those precluding factors, I wouldn't want a continuous RF signal flooding my bird from within. I don't think we're there yet :(

Shyra
05-19-2016, 06:04 PM
Another thing to do as a precaution is to teach your bird to fly down to the floor. I've always been told that's not instinctual for our birds to fly down that it has to be learned which is why parrots stay in trees even when they want to come down. I would think it would come natural but apparently not.

One thing I have taught my grey is to fly back to her cage when the back door opens. She knows if she is flying towards me that if I put my had up flat palmed toward her and say No that she needs to get to her cage fast. I only do that if I'm by one of the outside doors though so I don't confuse her to where she'll think it's not important to get to her cage. I know it's not a full proof solution but there's been a time or two that my husband has opened the back door without checking to see where she was at so was grateful she didn't keep flying in that direction. There are days I'm glad my gw doesn't know how to fly. He just glides about 6 feet then drops like a rock.

PlaxMacaws
05-19-2016, 06:13 PM
Another thing to do as a precaution is to teach your bird to fly down to the floor. I've always been told that's not instinctual for our birds to fly down that it has to be learned which is why parrots stay in trees even when they want to come down. I would think it would come natural but apparently not.I think it's natural for many birds to avoid doing that because in the wild each time they land on the ground they become an accessible target for predators. They are typically safest when atop the highest objects. The only real flyer I have among my 4 is Zaf. But he never flies to the floor... instead he persistently climbs down to the floor. He's actually obsessed with doing so :th_shakehead:

The Pinkertons
05-19-2016, 06:25 PM
Shyra is your GW MACAW Clipped or just doesn't know how to fly / My Galah never flew even with all her flight feathers

kendrafitz
05-19-2016, 09:17 PM
Shyra - I had never heard the floor thing before. Thank you for sharing that.

Rosie is just now at 4 getting to the point that she doesn't crash into a wall when flying. She doesn't have all that much interest for the most part. But if she ever becomes a decent flier I am going to use your method with Harley of flying back to the cage. That is AWESOME!!

Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

Shyra
05-19-2016, 09:22 PM
Shyra is your GW MACAW Clipped or just doesn't know how to fly / My Galah never flew even with all her flight feathers

Gandalf was weaned in and stayed in a pet shop until he was 18 months old. He was never allowed to fledge so just doesn't have a clue. They kept him clipped from the day he tried to fly. When I brought him home he was scared of his own shadow and would jump at everything resulting in falling straight to the floor like a rock. The fact that he can now glide is a huge accomplishment. After 11 years with us, he still freaks out when he's on the floor. Oh and no he's never been clipped since he's been with me. He still spooks easily which activates his flight instinct but now he's learned to spread his wings, thank goodness, but that's the only time he does glide.

Shyra
05-19-2016, 09:31 PM
Kendra, something else you might try teaching her is hot and cold. Since I have pellet stoves and my birds are allowed in the kitchen, they both know what hot and cold means. It also helps when I'm rushing and their food is a little too warm when I put it in their cages. I just tell them it's hot and they know to be very cautious. Harley is obsessed with cold, especially in the winter. Are you cold? Cold feet? I'm cold! It's cold, cold cold cold!! That's all we hear from her. When she steps onto me and my hands are cold, she'll also fuss you cold, cold. She doesn't say hot but she and Gandalf both know what it means.

Do you think she doesn't fly much because of the size of the rooms she's in? I've always wondered if that was one of the reasons Gandalf doesn't try to flap his wings when he takes off. My longest room is 24 foot. When you figure the cage comes out three feet and his playstand is in front of it (so he can reach it), then figure in his size there's not much space left to fly before hitting the wall.

kendrafitz
05-19-2016, 09:44 PM
Kendra, something else you might try teaching her is hot and cold. Since I have pellet stoves and my birds are allowed in the kitchen, they both know what hot and cold means. It also helps when I'm rushing and their food is a little too warm when I put it in their cages. I just tell them it's hot and they know to be very cautious. Harley is obsessed with cold, especially in the winter. Are you cold? Cold feet? I'm cold! It's cold, cold cold cold!! That's all we hear from her. When she steps onto me and my hands are cold, she'll also fuss you cold, cold. She doesn't say hot but she and Gandalf both know what it means.
That is so funny! I do talk to her about hot cold. Example, we have to wait to get in the shower, the water is too cold... brrr. Hot I usually say about food as well. But I am not sure how much she gets. I am going to make a conscious effort though. I already love Harley, sooo funny.


Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

The Pinkertons
05-20-2016, 04:45 AM
Gandalf was weaned in and stayed in a pet shop until he was 18 months old. He was never allowed to fledge so just doesn't have a clue. They kept him clipped from the day he tried to fly. When I brought him home he was scared of his own shadow and would jump at everything resulting in falling straight to the floor like a rock. The fact that he can now glide is a huge accomplishment. After 11 years with us, he still freaks out when he's on the floor. Oh and no he's never been clipped since he's been with me. He still spooks easily which activates his flight instinct but now he's learned to spread his wings, thank goodness, but that's the only time he does glide.Sounds like my Galah's past , Kiwi did the same as your Gandalf .

The Pinkertons
05-20-2016, 04:46 AM
It's amazing how intelligent Birds are.

Lady
05-21-2016, 09:21 PM
Wow, some great ideas here! You guys are awesome!

94lt1
05-21-2016, 09:32 PM
If my birds flew I'd have to scale the tree or stand by with a pellet gun while someone else scaled the tree..(often times for inside birds..they fly up and get scared and can't figure out how to come down ) and we have Hawks, ravens, and a family of owls, grey squirrels that kill birds.. especially birds that wouldn't run from them...i don't even want to think about it.

Our birds are getting strong enough to half way fly when clipped...so I don't even allow them outside without a harness..

Mare
05-21-2016, 09:54 PM
Brandon, they do learn to fly down and believe it or not, I don't believe a hawk, owl, or rodent will snatch up your bird while you are screaming and making a scene on the ground to keep them away :). I've done it and it WORKS!

kendrafitz
05-22-2016, 11:46 AM
The hawks are pretty bold and not that concerned with humans here. When Bailey was a baby they decided she would make a great snack. They were stalking her, even with Jef and I outside waving a big stick. It was bad until Jef started throwing rocks in their direction. They finally flew off. I cannot stand them. We have two or three that constantly patrol our neighborhood. My vet said they have been known to swoop down and take birds, including macaws right off their owners shoulder. Which is why he discouraged me from using a harness or bringing her outside at all (unless in a travel cage). Ugh. Nasty hawks!

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

94lt1
05-23-2016, 02:55 AM
Brandon, they do learn to fly down and believe it or not, I don't believe a hawk, owl, or rodent will snatch up your bird while you are screaming and making a scene on the ground to keep them away :). I've done it and it WORKS!
I would normally accept that but I've had a hawk swoop me with starburst on my arm...not a joke...so I shall err on the side if caution..

Mare
05-23-2016, 03:20 AM
Amigo is wise beyond words when it comes to hawks and I realize that most of our pets aren't. So I will concede, Brandon.