# Flying Backward



## leftyli67 (Dec 4, 2011)

I have a cockatiel that is about 4 months old. His wings had been clipped when we got here. He is trying to fly now that they are growing out but most times when he takes off he is flying backwards. Is this something I should worry about? He can fly forward if going like from my elbow to my shoulder but when he is like on a table wanting to fly to the couch he ends up going backwards. Any thoughts or advice?


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## carrielee76 (Nov 19, 2011)

Not an expert here but it sounds like he may have been clipped before he actually learned how to fly as that will affect his ability to learn properly.


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## DyArianna (Aug 7, 2011)

Yes, it does sound like he/she never learned to fly properly at all. I have had experience with 4 chicks learning to fly. 3 of them flew what I would refer to as normal. But I had one who did the backwards take off thing. She only did it for about a week or so and then took off flying normally. I think it is just a matter of them getting so excited to fly that they flap their little wings too hard and end up getting too much air.


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

Ya. before the vet clipped Daisy`a wings, they asked if she had learned to fly yet.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

dally was like this. she was clipped before she learned to fly. i taught her how to fly properly lol

i held her a hop's length away from the top of her cage and got her to hop to the top of the cage. then i moved farther away so eventually she had to flap to get there. this worked on her muscles as well as her aim and landing. i worked slowly with her. i would move farther away each time she was comfortable with the first distance. once she could fly from a good distance, i worked on her turning. i moved away from the cage at an angle so she had to turn to get back to the cage. i turned around so she had to turn too. now, shes an excellent flyer, and can turn very well on a dime. it might take a good bribe, like millet. you can have her fly to you or her cage or whatever target she likes best. i would try with something flat and wide so she has plenty of space to learn to land. a perch would be too hard at first. have something she can grip on the flat surface, like a pillow or blanket. also, around the target place blankets and pillows too so that if she misses she doesnt fall and hurt herself. it took dally a few months of this to learn how to fly. 15 minutes a day is good to work with


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## Kenziekenz (Dec 5, 2011)

Wow Dally! Thats so cool that you taught her how to fly.

Thats so sad that some birds don't get to learn right away. 

My female just recently got decent at flying. When I first got her she would take off and fly so fast and hard that she would smash into walls and bust up her face. So I had to clip her wings because surely she was going to end up killing herself. But shes been in my bedroom since she had her babies and when Sampson flies about she does too, she had a few mishaps where she smacked into a wall, slid down it and ended up under my desk. She came waddling out looking so confused lol. But she has gotten good at flying to my bed, and back to her cage. Her newest thing is perching on my wall mounted tv, which would be fine except she tends to shower it in poo


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## resalat_hasan (Sep 7, 2011)

Its not good clipping a bird which haven't been trained how to fly 
Some rude pet shop guys do it.....thats very very bad practice


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## bjknight93 (Nov 13, 2011)

It's a bad practice to clip before they learn to fly properly, but i think for Kenzie's situation she was doing what was safest for her bird. There have been incidences where cockatiels have flown into walls, windows, and mirrors at such a high rate that they either knocked themselves unconcious or died on impact. It isn't extremely common, but something precautionary shouldn't be looked down upon. 

As for pet shops, some don't know about the proper time to clip a bird's wings or don't know whether or not a bird in their shop has fledged or not. It is a bad practice, but it is usually from them being naive or from people asking them to trim a bird's wings before they take it home (naivety on the new bird owner's part as well). It all has to do with lack of education.


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## resalat_hasan (Sep 7, 2011)

bjknight93 said:


> It's a bad practice to clip before they learn to fly properly, but i think for Kenzie's situation she was doing what was safest for her bird. There have been incidences where cockatiels have flown into walls, windows, and mirrors at such a high rate that they either knocked themselves unconcious or died on impact. It isn't extremely common, but something precautionary shouldn't be looked down upon.
> 
> As for pet shops, some don't know about the proper time to clip a bird's wings or don't know whether or not a bird in their shop has fledged or not. It is a bad practice, but it is usually from them being naive or from people asking them to trim a bird's wings before they take it home (naivety on the new bird owner's part as well). It all has to do with lack of education.


I do agree with u


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## leftyli67 (Dec 4, 2011)

Thanks for all the advice. If they did clip the wings will the bird be able to learn to fly if we work with with bird?


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

yes, the bird will learn to fly if you work with her. thats what i did with dally


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