Cockatiel, Lovebird, and Conure Free Flight | Parrot Volancy Mentees || August - December 2020

[@______-xh4pn]

For anyone considering free flying any of these species-please do your research. Cockatiels are found almost strictly in arid regions with little vegetation, are nomadic, and have high speed wings that work poorly in heavily vegetated areas. They literally survive by being faster and outlasting predators in flight. Sun conures are sort of middle ground-they’re typically found on edges of forests. While not as fast or as athletic as cockatiels, they shouldn’t really be flown in dense vegetation either. Green cheek conures are true forest birds, and it’s reflected in their wing shape. Notice how their wings are rounder than sun conures and cockatiels. This gives them a high amount of agility, but makes them slower. They would do great in a more forested area, but will most likely fail to outfly another bird in an open habitat. The peach faced lovebird, like cockatiels, are also found in arid areas. They aren’t as fast as cockatiels (not many parrots are), but they make up for it in intelligence and agility. They probably will not fair well in forested areas though, as their high speed wings will perform poorly in that environment.

[@ParrotVolancy]

I was in the middle of responding to your comment when I decided to pin it, because I am such a strong believer in species-specific location selection and research to inform our free flight practice. Unfortunately, that apparently deleted the comment I was typing, so I'll have to come back and respond when I'm not so tired. Thank you for the awesome and informative comment! People should definitely not attempt free flight without a mentor who knows their species.

[@BirdNerdSophie]

I LOVE this video! So amazing to see so many smaller species free flying! Nice work! 😍

[@ParrotVolancy]

Thank you so much! I plan to do an update on them later on!

[@MikeyTheMacaw]

This is amazing. So cool to see so many smaller birds in free flight. Phelan you are doing an amazing thing!!!

[@ParrotVolancy]

Thank you so much! :D

[@birdbrain3594]

So inspirational... I was so close to free flight this year and then Cheeky had to die... Thank you for helping me with her, I look forward to your mentorship once I get another bird. 🥺💕

[@ParrotVolancy]

I look forward to it, too! It's going to be amazing!

[@rebuazamzamgeneralcontract9190]

super cool and amazing keep on

[@ParrotVolancy]

Thank you so much! :]

[@fatimaa4741]

Doctor: you have 5 minutes and 16 seconds to live Me: p e r f e c t

[@fatimaa4741]

P.S. you just gained a sub

[@ParrotVolancy]

@@fatimaa4741 LOL, thank you so much! XD Your comment made me smile.

[@thecockatielfriends3837]

So amazing! I can’t wait till Piper and my new baby are able to fly with Soren!

[@ParrotVolancy]

So looking forward to that! :D

[@matthewstauffer1210]

Awesome work!

[@ParrotVolancy]

Thank you so much! ^__^

[@zookatpets7149]

Thank you so much for mentoring me!

[@ParrotVolancy]

You're so very welcome! You're doing an amazing job! ^__^

[@leahmcelhany7419]

Love it!! Munes Making progress too! he's back to wanting treats.

[@ParrotVolancy]

That's awesome! :] You're waiting for warmer weather as well, I'm guessing?

[@leahmcelhany7419]

@@ParrotVolancy yeah..

[@avesdomesticaseexoticas]

cockatiels have their instinct against predators preserved to fly free? in Brazil they say that it is not appropriate because it lost its instinct against predator attacks. what is your opinion

[@ParrotVolancy]

That's a great question. In my experience, cockatiels have some of the strongest survival instincts, which is why you can't fly them in more built-up/man-made locations. For some other species, they can adapt their instincts to the situation, but cockatiels can't in that case. Their predator detection/avoidance is also very sharp. They spook pretty dang easily. Most of the time when mine spook, I don't see what caused them to spook. They're very sensitive to indications of danger. My cockatiels have had a few hawk encounters where there was a hawk in the area and they responded accordingly. My male cockatiel has been chased mid-flight by an accipiter, which was very scary yet impressive. He outmaneouvred it and returned thirty minutes later. Cockatiels, being small and timid birds, benefit greatly from flock members and the presence of some trees for shelter. Training them is quite a bit different from training macaws.

[@ParrotVolancy]

@@voolivrecompsitacideos5023 Indeed, I deviate from Chris' location selection significantly with smaller species. I try to select something that is closer to their natural habitat while not making it too difficult for a beginner. Many small birds, including cockatiels, look to trees for safety when feeling threatened. If there are no trees, some will instinctively fly in whatever direction they need to until they reach them. Rather than forcing the bird into an unnatural position as a single small bird out in the open on a low perch, we choose a location that offers some tree cover so that they do not need to leave the general area for safety should they notice a threat or become spooked for another reason. If you compare the beginner locations I use for my galahs, cockatiels, and green-cheeked conures, they're all very different. Even though cockatiels and GCCs are both small birds, they have completely different flight styles which naturally favour different habitats. I wasn't able to fully appreciate this until I flew both.

[@ParrotVolancy]

@@voolivrecompsitacideos5023 I'm glad it helped! :]

[@leahmcelhany7419]

congrats everone!

[@sherryninja2075]

How are u guys so brave. I am gonna get 2 love birds and I want them to be able to fly outside but they are so little and I am really scared that they might fly away. How do u train them like this?

[@ParrotVolancy]

I strongly suggest you get yourself a mentor as a lot can go wrong with free flight if you don't have the appropriate knowledge. I can mentor you if you're interested. The main thing, in my opinion, is finding someone who knows how to fly your species. I have learned a lot about lovebirds from another friend of mine, which I integrate into my recommendations for the girl in this video flying hers. Apparently flying just two bonded lovebirds can potentially present some issues where they may be tempted to fly off together. (The same can happen with macaws.) They are small, flock-oriented birds, so flying them in multiples (or with other species) rather than in bonded pairs may be safer. Flying just one alone is a lot riskier long-term, and they also become rather desperate to flock with wild birds like sparrows, etc. I don't have a lot of data to go off of, but I have some, and it seems the most natural way to fly them would be in a flock. That's why my mentee with lovebirds is working on flying hers one at a time and teaching them to fly with other birds first so that they gain experience and build a sense of flock, which should theoretically anchor them better. A lot can vary with free flight according to the species, and some species are flown more commonly than others. Considering some people fly lovebirds in flocks from aviaries, I think the flock setting and feeling they already have a nest to return to (at their house) is probably the safest bet.

[@sherryninja2075]

@@ParrotVolancy thanks for this knowledge since I have seen so many birds free flying I wanted to see if I can give a sense of freedom to the birds I will get. Thanks for the awesome advice I greatly appreciate it😁

[@tatupebadalagoa]

cockatiels or lovebirds ?? which is the safest for free flight? which is the calmest ??

[@ParrotVolancy]

Lovebirds would definitely be the calmer, more confident birds. They are much more like big birds in small bodies. However, they still benefit greatly from flying with other birds for protection. For this reason, it would not be wise to fly them solo long-term, but there are some other challenges with flying them. I know from a friend of mine who free-flies them that you have to be careful about them flying off together if you only fly them in a pair setting but not a flock setting. (His pair flew off together multiple times.) Single lovebirds do fine, but flying such a small bird singly is not the best. They will be more vulnerable, and my friend said his bird was desperately trying to flock with sparrows and other small birds for company. A pair may take to wandering without a flock to anchor them and reinforce where home, safety, and viable nesting grounds are. So you can either have a lovebird who flocks with some other parrot species or train multiple lovebirds to fly together, but it seems there is some difficulty in flying just two.