Taking him outside?

@Nursemaia
I too live in the forest, but also in Virginia. I have a very robust hawk population around me. What material do you use for your cages? I was thinking about using hardware cloth.
 
Angelwolf said:
Wow! Your birds are AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL! Thanks for sharing your pics. How do you make sure they don't take off and never come back? I lost my beloved Senegal because she got spooked. And nearly lost my sun conure because of a freak accident with an open door.
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@EveryGreen They are trained. I've spent a lot of time training them even if they sometimes misbehave. Macaws are really easy to fly. They are big and loud and when they sit in a tree it is at the top and out in the open so they are easy to find. Greys are a challenge. They are not noisy and they tend to sit inside the tree in silence. You can be right under the tree they are in and unless they tell you where they are (and they won't if they are scared) you won't find them. Flying outside is not something a novice person should do. There are a lot of dangers, from predators to cars, electrical wires and winds. There is a lot to free flying that the novice hasn't a clue about.

If the birds aren't clipped, you have a really good chance of recovering a lost bird. If they are clipped, they are in big trouble. Most lost birds will make themselves known to strangers after a few days, even spooky birds. Someone usually finds your bird. The trick is to get the person with your bird connected to you. They don't usually fly further than maybe a couple of miles and tend to stay in the area.

One really old (nearly 30 years old) African Grey I had taken in was pretty crippled up from being in a tiny cage for years. I had him outside in one of my big aviaries. I brought a big branch into the aviary that really spooked him and he flew over my head in a really strong wind. He was such a poor flyer, I was pretty worried about him. I spent hours calling for him. I got up at sunrise and walked the neighborhood listening for him. Suddenly, my phone rang in the forest on the other side of a 12' security fence. Then the whistle I use to call the birds when I fly them started trilling in the forest. Then the macaws and the Pionus started yelling for me in the forest. And the phone kept ringing madly. Byrd had phoned home.
 
I have researched a lot about free flying, it is super hard core work in training your birds and you have to keep the bond with them regularly. You can't slack. Neither one of my birds are clipped, but my yellow nape amazon was never introduce to free flying and now no longer has the strength for long flight etc, like that. However she has a stupidly large amount of strength when it comes to climbing stuff. Mom takes good care of her. She's never shut away, she has the choice to go in her cage and out. We only ever purposefully put her in her cage if we have company coming over that has too many people or things we can't trust with her and them. Kookie is notoriously a one person bird, even if she decides she likes you and sits on you willingly she won't get off willingly and someone will get bit in the process. She is also shut away if we are doing a lot of cleaning around her cage, such as the hamster cages, because she won't leave me alone when I am doing it and will constantly try to bite me. She also has time outs, but that is usually brief and only if she has done something truly bad, like she is having the nesting cycle that she does during spring, or if she doing a really big molt... she can be a uber brat to extremes during those times. It is a huge difference from normal territorial Kookie, to the one who actively looks for trouble. (happened a lot this year due to strange weather in our area throwing her out of wack)

Lark my little Bourke's Parakeet, is mine, is strongly bonded to me, and loves me as much as any hand-tamed larger parrot can love someone. He is incredibly intelligent compared to what I was expecting, he has learned tons of new calls (his noise are whistles and trills) but he has learned all the small native birds in my area (song-birds) that come into my back yard. He has conversations with them but I am honestly not sure if they realize whose talking to them lol. He also knows how to wolf whistle and is learning some new stuff by himself that he is mutating to his own cool stuff. He also has learned when to ask for treats and loves them far more than any other parakeet I have had. He likes veggies and millet the most. But does like toast and his bird mash. He also loves his water bowl for soaking and is very particular about having a seperate water bowl for soaking and also drinking 24/7
 
Andee said:
I have researched a lot about free flying, it is super hard core work in training your birds and you have to keep the bond with them regularly. You can't slack. Neither one of my birds are clipped, but my yellow nape amazon was never introduce to free flying and now no longer has the strength for long flight etc, like that. However she has a stupidly large amount of strength when it comes to climbing stuff. Mom takes good care of her. She's never shut away, she has the choice to go in her cage and out. We only ever purposefully put her in her cage if we have company coming over that has too many people or things we can't trust with her and them. Kookie is notoriously a one person bird, even if she decides she likes you and sits on you willingly she won't get off willingly and someone will get bit in the process. She is also shut away if we are doing a lot of cleaning around her cage, such as the hamster cages, because she won't leave me alone when I am doing it and will constantly try to bite me. She also has time outs, but that is usually brief and only if she has done something truly bad, like she is having the nesting cycle that she does during spring, or if she doing a really big molt... she can be a uber brat to extremes during those times. It is a huge difference from normal territorial Kookie, to the one who actively looks for trouble. (happened a lot this year due to strange weather in our area throwing her out of wack)

Lark my little Bourke's Parakeet, is mine, is strongly bonded to me, and loves me as much as any hand-tamed larger parrot can love someone. He is incredibly intelligent compared to what I was expecting, he has learned tons of new calls (his noise are whistles and trills) but he has learned all the small native birds in my area (song-birds) that come into my back yard. He has conversations with them but I am honestly not sure if they realize whose talking to them lol. He also knows how to wolf whistle and is learning some new stuff by himself that he is mutating to his own cool stuff. He also has learned when to ask for treats and loves them far more than any other parakeet I have had. He likes veggies and millet the most. But does like toast and his bird mash. He also loves his water bowl for soaking and is very particular about having a seperate water bowl for soaking and also drinking 24/7
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@Andee Actually, you don't have to have to have much of a bond with the parrots you train to have a really successful training experience. I don't want my parrots to "bond" with me and think I'm their mate. They like me, but they have their own parrot friends. I would never rely on a parrot liking me to come back to me. They do need to be prepared for outdoor flight. It's a gradual process of teaching the bird to come to you on cue and to learn how to do things like fly down and land from height and speed. Young birds are actually afraid of heights and get pretty scared flying at speed and up high. It is just not the same as being inside.

You just manipulate their environment so that they choose to do what you ask most of the time. You do it manipulating their feeding schedule. That is all "positive training" is--paying them for some work that they choose to do or not do. That can range from from just reserving special treats during training for a well-fed satiated bird, to only feeding it while it is working all the way to withholding food to the point your bird is starving and will do anything for food. Falconers free fly birds that are often wild caught hawks. There is very little social bond between a falconer and his birds.

I free fly my birds for their enrichment. I want big joyous swooping flights. Flying inside is nothing to a big free wheeling outdoor flight unless you have a really tiny parrot. They all love to play in the wind. If they are too hungry, they won't fly because they are too motivated to stick near you for treats/food. If they are too full, they have their big fly and then sit at the top of a tall tree chewing branches and enjoying the view.

I used to help a lot of people starting to free fly their birds, but stopped when I found few people were observant enough to really understand the situations they were putting their birds into. It is not without danger, although flying a big macaw is pretty safe. They stick around their home territory and are really easy to find. If one goes missing, few human predators are interested in keeping (stealing) it due to that really massive beak that can destroy a house and everything in it in no time. For entertainment, my scarlet snapped the 12 gauge welded wire in her very expensive aviary--@jpowell86 can attest to that. I never could understand how a beak could do that. I once had a bullet whistle over my head at my birds--don't know if it was a stray bullet but it sure scared me and the birds. My scarlet will leave the area if she is chased by anything even if that bird is only curious about the big red bird in their territory. Vultures terrify her and when we first moved here, they all came around to have a good look at the big red bird that had moved in. She would fly over the hills and be gone all day.

Here's a picture of the kind of bird that was relentless about chasing my birds when we lived in the Caribbean. The African Grey loved the chase and would taunt them to come and chase her. The big scarlet would panic and once ended up crashing to the ground cartwheeling head over heels, which was really funny. This tiny bird is not much bigger than a canary and I know birders who have seen them kill a Red-tailed hawk by stabbing them with their beak and puncturing their air sacs.
dsc_0076.jpg
 
I have to agree with @jajeanpierre hawks are very opportunistic as I rescued 11 baby ducklings out of a sewer unaware a redtail hawk was watching my every move. Once all the ducklings were out and mom was done attacking me she started on her way. She became very restless, panicking, vocalizing and started running with her brood back towards the sewer I just removed them from, only to have the redtail swoop down hit me in the leg with its wing as it snagged a duckling and took it to the nearest rooftop. So, yes an opportunistic hawk will have no qualms snatching your friend on or right next to you.
 
AaronK said:
I have to agree with @jajeanpierre hawks are very opportunistic as I rescued 11 baby ducklings out of a sewer unaware a redtail hawk was watching my every move. Once all the ducklings were out and mom was done attacking me she started on her way. She became very restless, panicking, vocalizing and started running with her brood back towards the sewer I just removed them from, only to have the redtail swoop down hit me in the leg with its wing as it snagged a duckling and took it to the nearest rooftop. So, yes an opportunistic hawk will have no qualms snatching your friend on or right next to you.
Click to expand...
They've blasted baby chicks right in front of my numerous times. A hawk is a killing machine! I can't get too mad I really think they are the coolest. I raise a few extra chickens cuz I know I will lose a few every year.
 
iv never had encounters with hawks, except once. i was fishing a little pond in VA beach and there was this duck that was injuired (it had tried to fly but hit a branch) so it was chillin in the water. a little after i was laughing at the sound it made hitting the branch a hawk swooped in and grabbed it (not a full size duck)
 
Andee said:
I have researched a lot about free flying, it is super hard core work in training your birds and you have to keep the bond with them regularly. You can't slack. Neither one of my birds are clipped, but my yellow nape amazon was never introduce to free flying and now no longer has the strength for long flight etc, like that. However she has a stupidly large amount of strength when it comes to climbing stuff. Mom takes good care of her. She's never shut away, she has the choice to go in her cage and out. We only ever purposefully put her in her cage if we have company coming over that has too many people or things we can't trust with her and them. Kookie is notoriously a one person bird, even if she decides she likes you and sits on you willingly she won't get off willingly and someone will get bit in the process. She is also shut away if we are doing a lot of cleaning around her cage, such as the hamster cages, because she won't leave me alone when I am doing it and will constantly try to bite me. She also has time outs, but that is usually brief and only if she has done something truly bad, like she is having the nesting cycle that she does during spring, or if she doing a really big molt... she can be a uber brat to extremes during those times. It is a huge difference from normal territorial Kookie, to the one who actively looks for trouble. (happened a lot this year due to strange weather in our area throwing her out of wack)

Lark my little Bourke's Parakeet, is mine, is strongly bonded to me, and loves me as much as any hand-tamed larger parrot can love someone. He is incredibly intelligent compared to what I was expecting, he has learned tons of new calls (his noise are whistles and trills) but he has learned all the small native birds in my area (song-birds) that come into my back yard. He has conversations with them but I am honestly not sure if they realize whose talking to them lol. He also knows how to wolf whistle and is learning some new stuff by himself that he is mutating to his own cool stuff. He also has learned when to ask for treats and loves them far more than any other parakeet I have had. He likes veggies and millet the most. But does like toast and his bird mash. He also loves his water bowl for soaking and is very particular about having a seperate water bowl for soaking and also drinking 24/7
Click to expand...
I had a Bourque! Many years ago! She was so incredibly soft! Sadly, she passed not long after we got her. I honestly don't remember the reason. I was a young teenager, at the time.
 
Mtnlaurel said:
They've blasted baby chicks right in front of my numerous times. A hawk is a killing machine! I can't get too mad I really think they are the coolest. I raise a few extra chickens cuz I know I will lose a few every year.
Click to expand...

Get a good rooster or two. I love my roosters. I hate culling the extra roosters so usually have far too many roosters. It's a problem as you know. The other day I was inside and heard a racket. I went out to find the three young Araucana roosters that have so far avoided the soup pot and the big Ameraucana rooster out in the open yelling and screaming. Not a hen to be found anywhere, even in the covered pens. Not a peep from any of the hens as the roosters yelled and screamed and were out in the open. A big hawk flew off. I think it was a Harris hawk based on its size, shape, flight style and distinctive white rump patch. It would have killed my chickens in a heart beat. I'm sure glad my Red Shouldered hawk pair have migrated back to the area. They keep everything out.
 
EveryGreen said:
iv never had encounters with hawks, except once. i was fishing a little pond in VA beach and there was this duck that was injuired (it had tried to fly but hit a branch) so it was chillin in the water. a little after i was laughing at the sound it made hitting the branch a hawk swooped in and grabbed it (not a full size duck)
Click to expand...

The things with hawks is you generally don't ever see them unless you are looking for them. My roosters are always on high alert looking for hawks. The pair of Red Shouldered hawks yell when an intruder moves into the area. Up until recently, my neighbor had peacocks. My parrots yell a distinctive yell for hawks. I have a lot of eyes watching for hawks and yelling whenever a hawk is in the area. It is funny that my chickens would hear the neighbor's peacocks alarm call and dive for cover before they had seen a hawk.
 
I used to have Arucanas, no one wanted to eat my green eggs. I see hawks all day every day, mostly red tail. A few days ago I caught some barred owls right outside the front door in the trees eating a squirrel. I also hear screech and great horned owls at night
 
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