A bird that can fly is far more confidant than a bird that can't. Ick had only been flying for two days, but it was getting out of hand. The silly bird was flying into the windows when I wanted to put him away and chasing me around the house once he discovered he could force me to hold him 24/7 simply by landing on me, flying right back when placed on his perch lol. It's partly why my arms and wrists became so shredded. Not good

For those feeling pity for stripping our feathered companions of their unique and beautiful flying abilities, fear not. All of my birds can fly and do so without flying off into the wild blue yonder. It's more a matter of training. The idea is not to take away Ick's flight abilities entirely, but to gain a little control over his new found freedom before he hurts himself (or me) in the process. I don't trim the outside primary flight feathers on purpose, because that would remove his ability to fly entirely. Rather, trimming the uplift secondary flight feathers on the inside of his wing enable him to still fly, but he can only go for short distances, semi low to the ground. No uplift! This will give him a chance to learn safe landing skills, what is allowed and what isn't and save my poor beat up arms in the process.

Clipping the wings in this manner can be as painless as cutting hair. Usually, the bird has more objection to the restraint involved than the actual wing trimming. The good news is, Ick didn't have to be restrained. He quickly learned to lay on his back and patiently wait to be released, as seen in the prior photos, just before his wings were trimmed.

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