To Clip or Not to Clip

               Wing clipping is a traditional concept of taking scissors and clipping the primary feathers down to the secondary feather line to impair flight in birds. The industry standard is the first 5 primary feathers or less, and no further down than the secondary feather line for both wings. There are some clipping that leaves the first few primaries and to cut 5 more further down the wing to still give the full wing look for aesthetics, which some birds do alright with, some do not. There is such a thing as an improper clip that is extremely unethical no matter is your for or against wing clipping. This includes only clipping one with so the bird corkscrews down to the ground, clipping all the primaries down to the secondary feather line, clipping past the secondary feather line on any one feather, and clipping the wing bone off to deny further feather growth. We will be discussing wing clipping as a whole, remaining neutral to the topic, so caretakers can make their own decisions on the clip.

               A lot of bird people clip their bird’s wings because they do not want the bird to fly away, or fly in their homes for safety. Caretakers want to be able to take their birds outside with them and will clip wings instead of harness training, especially when harness attempt were unsuccessful without proper training. You can train your bird to accept a harness, but it likely will not happen without structured training. Fluff and Feathers offers harness training sessions online, just click here to sign up. In reality, wing clipping does not stop your bird’s ability to fly unless it is an unethical clip. Your bird can still be taken off by the wind and keep going up and up and up. Also, if a bird gets startled, they will likely fly off of you, and can then keep flying. A bird flying outdoors with clipped wings makes retrieval very difficult to impossible because they cannot be good fliers with clipped wings. They are likely atrophied with their muscles because they do not fly enough or exercise flapping because of clipped wings, they are not flight trained, so they do not know how to fly or descend, and they are missing their primaries, which are the feathers that help give them power and steer. Relying on clipped wings outside is an accident waiting to happen based on education from a myth statement. Harnesses are not the only way to safely take your birds outside. Aviaries and travel cages are also wonderful. They can be large scale, or be mounted onto a wagon or stroller.

               Next reason for people wanting to clip their bird’s wings is for behavioral modification. I hear this especially with amazon parrots, though not limited to, where they will clip the birds’ wings because the bird is launching themselves to attack people. Other instances I hear is when a bird is biting when stepping up, you clip their wings and “earthquake” your hand and they fall off, needing you to step them up from the ground. As a behavioralist and trainer, I will strongly advise against this. By clipping the wings, you solve no behavior. Wing clipping doesn’t teach much. There is a reason your bird is launching. Bird’s find that aggression is a very effective form of communication to us, so what are they communicating? Usually, its fear, bird launches so you get away, or bird bites so you remove your hand. Here is some more information about aggression here. All this does is creates positive punishers (learn more about them here), using force, and has your bird develop escape/avoidance behaviors, as well as overtime show learned helplessness. If you bird is having behavioral issues, you need to hire a trainer in order to work with you to resolve them. A professional with birds will create a plan where you are not in harms way and you work off contact till contact training can be done safely. You can always hire us to help you with your training online or in-person by contacting us.

               Wing clipping for safety of the bird is also a reason. Our homes are an unnatural environment for parrots. We also raise them unnaturally by removing them from their parents at an extremely young age, as well as other birds, and hand rear them. All of this has a negative effect on the bird’s development behaviorally and with flight. Most birds never learned to fledge. Therefore, a bird flying through out house that does not know how to fly properly is a recipe for disaster. Also, a bigger bird flying through a smaller home can also be challenging for the bird to navigate. Birds can run into our furniture, our windows, our walls, and hurt themselves. If your bird cannot fly correctly, and you are unsure on how to fledge your bird, then it may be in the bird’s best interest to be clipped to help them. But wing clipping doesn’t always mean safety. Back to the flying outdoors thing, your bird likely can still fly and fly improperly. Wing clipping can also affect safety negatively for your bird in other ways. Clipping wings affects your bird’s balance. This means they are more likely to fall off perches. Also, if they do try to fly with clipped wings, they may land hard and improperly on the floor, resulting in most commonly broken legs and feet, a broken keel bone, or a broken neck or spine. It can also damage beaks by cracking them and then they bleed.

               Wing clipping is also known to be a contributing factor to feather destructive behaviors. I have an informational guide to what that is here. I will share with my own personal experience with my blue and gold macaw Merlin. He was clipped as a fledgling. He was put on the back of a sofa and if he attempted to fly, he would get a feather slipped off, and put back on the back of the couch till he stopped flying. This is 100% unethical. He remained clipped for a long part of his life, chest extremely atrophied, balance is horrible. Now that he is 35 years old, he hasn’t been clipped in over 10 years. But he destroys and plucks his wing feathers so they are always clipped or damaged. He has decreased these behaviors following treatment methods from the feather destructive behaviors guide, but it is not a pattern of behavior, and all he knows is not having fully feathered wings, so the realistic likelihood of them being perfect is slim to none.

               I also always hear people clip their bird wings because they do not live alone and people are careless with leaving doors and windows open. This is especially common with young children or elderly adults. It does bring us back up to the first conversation of there is still a risk of the bird flying out. Door and windows sensors are a wonderful thing to have to be alerted of what windows and doors are open and how long to be reminded to close them if they are in the bird’s area when it is out. Also, it is a great tool of increasing your child’s responsibility when you explain to them the dangers of not leaving windows and doors open, helping them develop and mature in small ways.

               All in all, wing clipping is a personal choice. There are reasons for clipping that are logical and can help. But there are dangers attached to it, as well as false safety’s that can lead to your bird being injured or flying off still. There is also unethical clipping that can damage a bird forever. Be sure your weigh both sides of the equation before making your decision. Is it in the bird’s best interest? Is there a way around it for your family and situation? If you ever need help deciding if you should clip your parrot’s wings, you can always feel free to contact me, and we can chat about it!