Pirates'n Parrots ( or Free-flying Birds) Stage II: Behind the Scenes Training

Abstract

I t is a warm spring morning in March as Frisbee and his one-year older brother, Red Claw - both Mitred Conures - each dangle by a single foot from a tiny twig of a plum tree in the back yard. I watch them busily and playfully teasing each other until Frisbee drops from the tree leaving Red Claw in momentary victory. Frisbee falls only a few inches before thrusting out his wings and darting off across the yard. Red Claw immediately abandons his conquest of the plum tree to follow suit. He overtakes Frisbee before they reach the driveway and together and in a tight but twisting dynamic formation, they tum to circle the property at top speed. While Red Claw flies under the branches of a tree near a 6 x 6 x 21 foot cage housing a pair of Scarlet Macaws, Frisbee chooses to fly through the branches, slowing only slightly as he dodges to avoid poking out an eye on a twig swaying in the breeze. Moments later he does a barrel roll around Red Claw as they start on their third circle of the six-acre property near Morton, Washington.

Together they drop from an altitude of about 75 feet down to do a very fast low flyby past me as I stand in the yard watching their daily aerobatic display. They pass by only inches in front of my nose, passing so closely and at such high speed that I feel the air turbulence

on my face and hear the sound of the wind sifting through their feathers making a gently swishing sound as they streak past me and continue their flight. Four or five more passes around the property are made before they skillfully and lightly land in separate branches of a fir tree overlooking the "the big cage," a 8 x 16 x 24 foot cage, communally housing several varieties of cockatoos, macaws, and Amazons.

Thus is the life of Red Claw and Frisbee, with frequent variations of the same throughout the day. In the evening, as the sky begins to show signs of dusk, they anxiously wait for me to call them indoors for the night. Currently they are spending six to eight hours a day outdoors, four to five days a week. During the winter they only get out on days with no rain and usually only for a couple hours at a time.

This coming summer though, they will mostly be on the road doing state and county fairs as part of "The Pirate's Parrot Show" offered by ESENCE, an educational approach to entertainment with performing parrots. The two Mitred Conures will be joined by several other free-flying parrots, including veteran flyer, Janis, a seven-year-old Green-winged Macaw; Obee, a twoyear-old Patagonian Conure; and rookies, Cosmo and Scooter, a Blue and Gold Macaw and a Sun Conure. Also part of the crew are several non-flighted birds for a display of more than 15 different parrot species - with an occasional pirate thrown in for flavor.

Most parrot owners can well imagine the potential dangers associated with free-flying; permanent loss during training, attacks by predators such as hawks, or disagreeable neighbors to name just a few. Often forgotten in the discussion are the dangers that face the clipped bird; permanent loss due to no training and little feather growth; being stepped on; injured or broken wings or feet due to falls; and boredom to the point of insanity again to name just a few. Obviously, it becomes a very personal decision to decide whether or not to free-fly your birds and many people will vehemently disagree with you no matter which choice you make.

The advantages of free-flying seem obvious to me, but in truth, it must be

experienced to truly comprehend it. The increased health through such joyful rigorous exercise can only be good for their bodies and their mental state. Often the free-flyers seem noticeably heavier and more robust than caged birds of similar species, even from the same parents. The difference in personality is quite simply beyond description.

One only needs to imagine living a few weeks confined to the bathroom versus being on safari to get a tiny glimpse of the difference in mental alertness and activity. This also can only have a positive effect on the birds. Anyone who has ever been around a fully-flighted Conure will most likely remember his or her happy and playful character over any other aspect. Even the famous loud vocalizations take on new meaning and to some degree become more easily acceptahle. Effective "contact calls" are a significant part of the flighted bird's life.

My Mitreds, Sun, and Patagonian Conures are the light of my life. There is little that I'd rather do than to watch them playing outdoors. Granted, some of this is from "proud father syndrome" due to having watched them go from the egg (Mitreds and B&G) or from 6- 8 weeks old (Patagonian. Sun, GW) to hecoming fully flight-trained adults. Watching them grow toward and achieve their ultimate potential is quite an exhilarating experience!

I feel fully justified in my pride in their growth and achievements, not because of anything I have done, but because of how incredihly wonderful they have each turned out to be. There is something incredible. bordering ineffable, about making the morning rounds when feeding the birds, and having two or three playful and curious little birds repeatedly landing on my shoulders, head, or food hucket. I sometimes get a feeling that is indescribable when I see them playfully dangling from a twig as r walk past them on my way to the next cage, only to have them drop and fly to the next twig to again dangle as I again walk past them toward the next cage; and then repeat until the feeding is finished. This free-flight experience has heen one of the highlights of my life.