Impressed beyond words. I've owned parrots for over 30 yrs and currenlty have a spolied Greenwing and Harlequin. I will bet that flighted Macaws such as yours DO NOT feather pick, right? thanks for sharing all your videos. If you're ever in So Cal my wife and I would like to attend a seminar.
@imagerep I have one patagonian conure that does some picking of his feathers. He is my first real free flyer and he started picking a few years ago when we kept him caged for an extended period of time. Now he does it, then quits, the feathers grow out again and at some point for reasons I do not understand, he will start working his feathers again. So it is intermittent. I am not sure what is going on with him or why he does this. Chris
As I am sure you know, captive birds and feather picking go hand in hand. It's a sad part of having birds as captive pets. I am sure most of your trained flighted birds avoid that issue. By the way, another question. OK they are trained as free flight and your videos are incredible to watch BUT what prevents them from deciding to go out of range (sight) and lose direction? I am sure you've lost birds in the past in free flight outdoors, right?
@imagerep I have lost one bird flying them since 1993. It was a partially trained adult bird and the circumstances were unusual and I simply made some basic mistakes in how I let her loose and in not doing any recovery effort right away. I am pretty sure she went home with someone in the fair parking lot. It was a fair in Orlando FL and I was extremely tired when it happened. My mistakes.
Part of the training is teaching them how to find their way back to the starting point. Chris
This is amazing - true love for your birds is shown by letting them be as close to wild as possible, by taking time to train them. Very different from the usual 'care' parrots seem to get which consists of wing clipping and long days in cages.
I love your videos. You dont see too many Calico Macaws (they are greenwing/military right?) as opposed to the Shamrocks. They look so much alike however I would imagine they are a bit larger than the Shamrocks. We have a Miligold. I would love to see him fly like that. Its amazing what you are able to provide for your fids. I would be terrified!
The birds clearly seem to enjoy flying in these locations. There are canyons, cliffs and updrafts to play with. In most other places we fly it is mostly 2 dimensional. But in the Moab area it is often 3 dimensional. The birds dive down into canyons and then shoot up over cliffs and then dive back down again. I have no doubt they are enjoying themselves. Chris
I am far more concerned about hawks here in Washington State than I am in Moab area. I have watched my guys out fly hawk attacks over 30 times. Trees are where bird hunting hawks hang out so most of the Moab area is less dangerous than here. Chris
Aw, didn't Dean bring his ekkies with him? :P I would be soo scared to try that with any bird-it would be too tempting for the birds to fly off, I think.
We do this all the time and if the birds are trained right, then they are NOT tempted to fly off. They want to fly but they also want to come back and be with us for social reasons and for favorite treat reasons. Chris
We have one more show here in Portland Oregon Sept 22-23 at a pirate festival and then in October 13-14 we again do the Las Vegas Ren Fair. From there we will go spend a couple weeks in Moab Utah again. Chris
It's wonderful to see these birds flying freely. It's almost as good as how Nature intended it. Can anyone believe people breed these birds to exist with clipped wings, sitting in cages? The one gift birds have above all is flight. I cannot imagine being born with wings that never know flight.
Impressed beyond words. I've owned parrots for over 30 yrs and currenlty have a spolied Greenwing and Harlequin. I will bet that flighted Macaws such as yours DO NOT feather pick, right? thanks for sharing all your videos. If you're ever in So Cal my wife and I would like to attend a seminar.
imagerep 1 year ago
@imagerep I have one patagonian conure that does some picking of his feathers. He is my first real free flyer and he started picking a few years ago when we kept him caged for an extended period of time. Now he does it, then quits, the feathers grow out again and at some point for reasons I do not understand, he will start working his feathers again. So it is intermittent. I am not sure what is going on with him or why he does this. Chris
chrisbiro1 1 year ago
@chrisbiro1
As I am sure you know, captive birds and feather picking go hand in hand. It's a sad part of having birds as captive pets. I am sure most of your trained flighted birds avoid that issue. By the way, another question. OK they are trained as free flight and your videos are incredible to watch BUT what prevents them from deciding to go out of range (sight) and lose direction? I am sure you've lost birds in the past in free flight outdoors, right?
imagerep 1 year ago
@imagerep I have lost one bird flying them since 1993. It was a partially trained adult bird and the circumstances were unusual and I simply made some basic mistakes in how I let her loose and in not doing any recovery effort right away. I am pretty sure she went home with someone in the fair parking lot. It was a fair in Orlando FL and I was extremely tired when it happened. My mistakes.
Part of the training is teaching them how to find their way back to the starting point. Chris
chrisbiro1 1 year ago
@chrisbiro1
That must have been a heartbreak.
Hope to meet you one day if you ever have a seminar in the Ventura/L.A. County area. .
imagerep 1 year ago
This is amazing - true love for your birds is shown by letting them be as close to wild as possible, by taking time to train them. Very different from the usual 'care' parrots seem to get which consists of wing clipping and long days in cages.
janijellybeehen 1 year ago
Absolutely wonderful!!!!!!
Irena Schulz - Bird Lovers Only Rescue
BirdLoversOnly 1 year ago
I can't believe what I'm seeing !
m301943 1 year ago
SO beautiful!
I like the freedom that you gives to your macows
Becerrator 2 years ago
They're having so much fun!
dontletithappen 2 years ago
We were having a lot of fun too. Chris
chrisbiro1 2 years ago
Wow that was an amazing video! I to own a Calico, named Hemingway.
capnlinda 2 years ago
This is quite possibly the most amazing video I have EVER seen...words can't express how this makes me feel....
rkarl89203 3 years ago
Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it. We have a lot of fun with this. Chris
chrisbiro1 2 years ago
I love your videos. You dont see too many Calico Macaws (they are greenwing/military right?) as opposed to the Shamrocks. They look so much alike however I would imagine they are a bit larger than the Shamrocks. We have a Miligold. I would love to see him fly like that. Its amazing what you are able to provide for your fids. I would be terrified!
klwess 3 years ago
they are cool birds I hope that they have fun when they fly I'm glad that they come back to you LOL
laurajackson18 4 years ago
The birds clearly seem to enjoy flying in these locations. There are canyons, cliffs and updrafts to play with. In most other places we fly it is mostly 2 dimensional. But in the Moab area it is often 3 dimensional. The birds dive down into canyons and then shoot up over cliffs and then dive back down again. I have no doubt they are enjoying themselves. Chris
chrisbiro1 4 years ago
I am far more concerned about hawks here in Washington State than I am in Moab area. I have watched my guys out fly hawk attacks over 30 times. Trees are where bird hunting hawks hang out so most of the Moab area is less dangerous than here. Chris
chrisbiro1 4 years ago
I have a b&g macaw and would love to be able to do that, but afraid I would loose him! Any tips on training? How long did it take?
spicey1976 4 years ago
Aw, didn't Dean bring his ekkies with him? :P I would be soo scared to try that with any bird-it would be too tempting for the birds to fly off, I think.
kirkygirl 4 years ago
Dean is not flying any birds right now.
We do this all the time and if the birds are trained right, then they are NOT tempted to fly off. They want to fly but they also want to come back and be with us for social reasons and for favorite treat reasons. Chris
chrisbiro1 4 years ago
this made me smile
parrot201 4 years ago
Thanks for sharing your video I truly enjoyed it ...
ka8ykk 4 years ago
hi do uthink we can free flight a cockatail outdoor
salmansaifulla 4 years ago
Hi Chris,
So when and what are you going to be doing this year?
jrmno1 4 years ago
We have one more show here in Portland Oregon Sept 22-23 at a pirate festival and then in October 13-14 we again do the Las Vegas Ren Fair. From there we will go spend a couple weeks in Moab Utah again. Chris
chrisbiro1 4 years ago
Simply amazing! That's how it should be!
atombstone 4 years ago
It's wonderful to see these birds flying freely. It's almost as good as how Nature intended it. Can anyone believe people breed these birds to exist with clipped wings, sitting in cages? The one gift birds have above all is flight. I cannot imagine being born with wings that never know flight.
luvbrrdz 4 years ago