Wing Clipping
Parrots magazine|April 2020
Yes or No?
Stephen Lavoie
Wing Clipping

If you would have asked me 20 years ago if clipping a birds’ wings was okay? I would have said yes, no big deal. Ask me the same question today, and the answer is an emphatic NO! Think about it, robbing the gift of flight is tantamount to cruel and unusual punishment, no matter the rationalisation.

Millions of years of evolution have brought about wondrous wings and we take that ability away in the blink of an eye often without much introspection.

What drastically changed my outlook was a moment when teaching my children to raise parrots. The journey began when the kids were elementary school age and received a gift of a pair of Peach-faced Lovebirds (Agapornis roseicollis). A perfect time to teach them about the responsibilities of pet ownership. The children relished the fact that they now had pets. We would also breed them so they could witness the miracle of life!

Lovebirds presented no unusual challenges, this wasn’t my first rodeo. My first cockatiel, Ben E. Hill, was from about 35 years ago so I have experience working with small/medium-sized parrots. We would cover all aspects of companion parrot ownership. We also purchased a second proven pair to increase our odds that the first clutch would be a successful one. The amazement was palpable when the kids first witnessed a newly hatched chick as they took stock of the tiny hairless pink figure. They would interact with the birds at every chance they could get, they took to it like a fish to water. Our flock grew, expanding into about 12 to 15 breeding pairs with dozens of juveniles on hand at any given time.

This story is from the April 2020 edition of Parrots magazine.

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This story is from the April 2020 edition of Parrots magazine.

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