Bird Care

WINGS

Clipping a bird's wings is not cruel nor it is painful when done correctly. It should be done by an avian veterinarian or by a knowledgeable pet store employee. This will help to prevent injury to the bird.

There are a variety of different clips that are done on birds. Use the one that works best on your bird.

Blood feathers

Watch for blood feathers when clipping. A blood feather is a new or developing feather. These feathers contain a blood supply. If cut or broken these feathers will bleed and the bird can bleed to death. When cutting the feathers you must always check for these blood feathers first. If they are present you may want to wait until they come in before clipping. If you still must clip it is best to leave a feather next to the blood feather. This provides some protection for that new feather. Always clip below the coverts. This is the second row of feathers from the bottom. Clip only the first 7-10 feather.

Prevent Flying?

Does clipping the wings prevent the bird from being able to fly. No, but it does limit their flight. Certain light-bodied birds such as cockatiels seem to fly quite well even with clipped wings. However, these birds do not gain as much height as they would if they were not clipped.

Clipping

When clipping the bird's wings always clip both side, never just one side. Clipping one side will make the bird fly lopsided and will make him more likely to crash into objects, injuring himself.

For other birds you may want to leave the first two primary flight feathers unclipped. This works best for birds that are feather pluckers.

Make sure that you have all of your equipment ready before you start. It is best to use flour instead of styptic agents. A styptic powder should not be used because the bird may ingest it while preening himself. This could cause crop-burn.

Scissors should be very sharp. Dull scissors will not properly cut the feathers and therefore may cause either injury or pain. You may or may not need to restrain your bird for this. A baby bird who had his wings played with can be trained to sit on the back of a chair and have his wings held out to be clipped. For other birds, you will need to restrain them. It takes two people sometimes to clip wings. Do not do this by yourself if you have to restrain the bird.