subject: Taking Care When Trimming A Parrot's Wings [print this page] Parrot owners will mostly have the wings of their parrot trimmed so that the parrot cannot take flight and fly away. There is a difference between hindering the flight of a parrot and totally stopping it from flying. The general consensus is that the wings should only be 'trimmed' not cut off. A parrot is a bird when all is said and done, and birds fly! It is just a fact of life. To lose the ability to fly would be like losing the ability to walk for a human.
Most parrot owners prefer to ask a professional to trim the wings of a parrot as it is a job that needs to done correctly and with care so that there is no damage to the wing itself.
A Baby Parrot.
For the safety of a young pet parrot, it should have its first three feathers trimmed a little, but it is important that it can still fly a little because it does need to learn to land on its fee. If the wings of the parrot are cut right back in the early years it may never learn to land properly on its feet and that could be quite harmful for the bird in the long run.
When a parrot is very young the first three feathers only are trimmed and then only have the usual length of a mature parrot's trim. The purpose of trimming the wings of a very young parrot is so that it will not fly into windows or other objects and hurt itself.
Wings On A More Mature Parrot.
An adult parrot which is much stronger has its first five flight feathers trimmed so that it is hindered but not stopped from flying. He is now a stronger bird so he needs more feathers trimmed to stop him flying away.
The utmost care should be taken to ensure that the feathers are not trimmed too short and most definitely not shorter thant the parrot's covert (the layer of feathers which protect their bases). Clipping of the feathers should mean that the feathers will grow out again, but if clipped too short it could mean that they will not regrow. If you are going to use a professional trimmer or vet who wants to cut below the cover, do stop them and find someone else. Make there is some discussion on this before taking the bird to be trimmed.
Usually a parrot will have its wings trimmed twice a year and this seems to be sufficient in most cases as regards the parrot care. This will still let the parrot fly around the house at ease without having accidents or causing accidents.
