My View on Free Flight

My experience with free flight is pretty high up there. I used to work with a falconer and we would fly the raptors and hunt with them often. I also have quite a few friends who free flights their macaws.

Here is my thing:
No matter the training, there is ALWAYS a chance for a fly off. No matter what. That is the name of the game. Proper training will severely decrease the chance, but you are introducing a flock animal not in their native habitat flying not in large flocks for protection, so all it takes is a crow, a seagull, a raptor, etc to fly and your bird’s instincts will most of the time kick in and they will retreat for safety. That’s their nature.

I think there are a lot of people who think their bird is properly trained in flight and they aren’t, which is incredibly dangerous. These people hopped on the trend without training correctly and getting the right information.

I think it’s a personal choice. I don’t think I’ll ever freefly my abled birds, but I do put them in their harnesses and extended leashes and fly them in the summer. I just don’t think the risk is worth it when I know they can still fly and exercise under cover or with restraint. But I also encourage people to look into it, as it can be a lot of fun! I enjoyed flying other people’s birds

I also do not teach free flight as apart of my behavior consultations. There are much better trainers for that who are confident in relating their experience with flight and fly more often than my birds. Only a few of my birds could become free flyers since they do not have disabilities. Most of the birds I fly on harnesses because they have disabilities.

I got birds without flight in mind, so you also have to be sure your specific bird is healthy enough for flight, understand the species flight patterns and ability for reliable recall (some birds are harder to train in which it wouldn’t be the best to take them out). A lot of moving parts so if you want to try it out, make sure you talk to experienced flight trainers, like ABI.