Your Parrot – Can You Clip Its Wings?

Whether or not to clip your parrot’s wings will be debated forever. You’ll find good arguments on both sides. The problem, then, is that it’s your decision. So, before deciding, it’s a good advice to get well informed.

A haircut! That’s what a lot of people say about clipping a bird’s wings. The only problem is that we don’t depend on our hair to get around or to avoid danger. Birds do. Now, maybe you should also take into account that feathers will grow back. So, it’s not an irreversible decision. After a while, your parrot should be able to fly normally again.

One positive aspect of clipping a bird is that it’s less likely to fly away. So, it helps prevent that it could get to toxic chemicals around the house or fly near a hot stove. But even clipped birds have been known to fly away. For this reason some people {advocate|argue that you should be} clipping both the primary and secondary flight feathers.

On the other side, opponents argue that a bird is meant to fly. As a primary consequence, a bird who can fly will have a stronger respiratory system. Their main argument is also that the clipped bird results defenseless; it will no longer be able to get away from its predators, like cats and dogs.. A bad wing clip can lead to plucking and sometimes in extreme cases to injury.

Maybe the way to take the better decision is take into account the environment where he lives. Take your decision carefully. Maybe it’s to only keep your bird clipped for part of the year when the weather is warm and the windows are open. Please consider well all the options and then, decide.