More free flying Amigo pics

[jtbirds]

Well my blue crowned conure is flighted and she has been taking laps around the room lately, and all I say is nana back on your cage and she flys from where ever she happens to have landed and goes right back to her cage, I never really taught her this she just picked up on it I suppose, there's a free flight story lol!

I am also thinking about working with a few of my macaws and the galah about doing recalls and such so I could take them out in harnesses and fly them more often.

[Robin]

Beautiful !!

[Carefree Birdee]

I'm not afraid of him flying away, 3yrs. ago, yes I was, but not now. He knows where his home is and he knows where I am. Hawks can be and are a threat. This past winter, we had a hawk migration come through our area like I've never seen before! He had been flying freely for two years, by that time, and we've never seen anything like this! The hawks were everywhere for about three months then most of them disappeared. The hawks could have been moving south from the fires we were having in the north, also, there were lots of fires and a whole lot of hawks!

Amigo has been taken down by a red-tail. When he was being chased, I could hear him from the far side of the property, screaming bloody murder, heading towards the house. I know his distress call and ran out to see him bee-lining his way home. About 20ft. off his tail was a red-tail hawk! Amigo knows enough that he is safe around us and we are here and will help him. I'm screaming, my husband runs out of the house and starts screaming, "Run, Mare, Run!" I'm in my socks and hit the drive running, Amigo gets taken down, in front of my eyes, I'm still around 100yds. behind. There is this huge tussle of wings and rolling around on the ground, before I even got close, the hawk took off. Amigo wasn't hurt, he had blood on his beak but it didn't come from him, I checked him thoroughly. He is very aware of hawks and normally will not wander far from home.
He's really not well "trained", he does come when I call, let's me handle him and knows the word "no". He's not well trained but very bonded to me, this is really all we have going!

OMG.....what a harrowing story Mare! I hope you don't ever have any days like that again. But it must be so fun and rewarding to watch Amigo free fly. And thank you for that great photo of the foothills....what a clear beautiful day....you sure can see far!

[Mare]

Yeah, Carrie, me too! That was scary and hasn't happened since. When he sees a hawk, now, he watches very closely and if he feels threatened, at all, he flies directly to his bedroom door, which is covered by a veranda. He has an outdoor cage right outside this door that he will land on then hop down to the door and start yelling for someone to let him in. He is normally outside when my husband or myself is with him. Some days, he likes to do his own thing and we allow this.

[mrgoogls]

wow great pics! I know your not to worried about him wandering off, but what about toxic plants or getting stuck somewhere?

[Mare]

Kenny, Amigo has chewed on every plant alive in this area, including poison oak, and still thrives. He stays close enough to home and I check on his where-abouts constantly. He did catch a nail in his cage, not too long ago, that scared me because it was IN his cage but so far, so good, on the outside.

[mrgoogls]

wow. so many people have giant lists of toxic plants. ha-ha. I guess sometimes its just we worry to much? did amigo ever chew out a little hole in a tree for a "nest" like wild parrots do? that would be awesome!

[Turquoise]

The story you told about Amigo & the redtailed hawk would have given me heart failure if I had been you! That is a big fear I think just about everywhere in the US. Hawks seem to be quite plentiful & skilful hunters. I've read about folks losing small dogs like Chihuahuas out of their back yards to hawks. I suppose they look like a rat to them.

I would love to see video of Amigo flying. Do you have any? Or did I miss it? That would be awesome to watch.

[Blancaej]

Great photos Mare!

[tiffnmango]

I want to work on recall training with Mango, my sun conure. He's growing his wings back after being clipped for about a year. He's very good about flying TOWARD his cage, but I'm hoping soon he'll take initiative to fly AWAY from his cage...