Ensuring your companion parrot wings are properly trimmed is important for a number of reasons. First and foremost, safety, followed by keeping you, the owner, as the dominant member of the bird-human relationship, and finally ensuring you're not the next person calling the local radio station looking for your beloved pet because it flew out the door when your kids came home. This is a very common occurrence and certainly one that can be avoided.
Should birds that never go outside have their wings clipped? Absolutely, a fully flighted parrot in the house is more acceptable to wing, head and leg injuries from crashes into doors, walls, ceiling fans, windows, mirrors, hot stove elements, boiling water, toilets, and the list goes on. Unfortunately some of these injuries result in a fatality.

How to Clip Wings

Assistance will be required to hold your parrot and stretch out his wings. Like anything in life, with practice you will quickly learn.

Be organized before you begin by ensuring you have all the necessary tools. Most important is a sharp pair of scissors with a blunt end along with nail clippers. You don't want to accidentally jab your bird. Make sure the equipment you are using is clean. You should also have a towel on hand to restrict your bird from movement so he doesn't get injured, as well as to protect you from getting bit. As we all know, birds can bite and bite hard. If you doubt me, give a Macaw a chicken bone and watch it disappear, you certainly don't want that happening to your finger.

It's also good to have on hand, either a cauterizing powder such as Qwik Stop, cornstarch or even flour, as well as a pair of needle nose pliers and paper towel, yup, you read that right, needle nose pliers, you'll understand as you read a bit further down. These items can help control bleeding should the need arise.

The major key to a successful clipping is to always act calmly, move slowly and speak calmly. Every ones bird is different, some may not require restraining; for those who do, the bird should be restrained by a towel, which will enable you to work on one wing at a time. Here's the method we use on our birds that aren't overly comfortable with having their wings clipped. Gently wrap the towel around your bird so that the opening is near the wing that you will be trimming. Ensure that his face is exposed so that he doesn't panic or smother. Here's where the calmness comes in, it will determine your success later on, so speak to him calmly and gently throughout the procedure.

The bird should be firmly held behind the head with one hand by your assistant, while the other hand holds the lower body. Your job as the wing clipper is to examine the wing carefully for signs of any new growth feathers. New growth feathers contain blood hence the name blood feather. Blood feathers, once cut will act like a straw and siphon the blood out of the birds' body. Birds' bodies contain small quantities of blood, so they can't afford to lose much. If you do accidentally cut a blood feather or should your bird ever break a blood feather, you must act quickly. This is where a clean pair of needle nose pliers comes in handy. With the needle nose pliers, pull the feather straight out and immediately apply pressure with some paper towel to control the bleeding. If direct pressure doesn't stop the bleeding, get your bird to an avian vet immediately. If you have any apprehension of pulling out the blood feather, you shouldn't be trimming the bird's wings. Please leave it to a professional. Once feathers are fully grown they are dead like hair and can be safely cut with no pain or bleeding. Once you have determined there are no blood feathers, stretch the wing out gently; identify the primary feathers and trim 5-9 feathers depending on the size of your bird. Smaller birds sometimes require more feathers trimmed than larger species. Examine your bird thoroughly to ensure there is no blood.

Once the grooming session is complete and prior to releasing your bird from the confines of the towel, talk to him and reassure him in a very loving manner. Release him and be sure to give him his favourite treat. Allow him some time to regain his composure and spend some quality time with him reassuring him of your love for him. If it's your birds' first wing clipping, you may want to monitor him; he will more than likely not know he can't fly. Remember that wings do grow back, so keep a close eye out on the growth as time goes on and trim the wings again, prior to your bird being able to take flight. Unfortunately, many people lose their beloved birds when the wings grow back and the owner is unaware they've done so.

Some common questions

Will clipping my bird's wings hurt my bird?

If the procedure is done correctly then there is no pain and if the bird is clipped evenly on both wings, he will maintain a level of balanced, short distance flight should it be required.

How often should I clip my bird's wings?

Typically speaking, wing clipping should be done at least on an annual basis. Some species require clipping several times a year.

Is clipping your birds wings considered cruel?

The answer to this question is based on personal feelings and preference based on each individuals own feelings on the subject.

Is it natural to clip these wonderful creatures?

Absolutely not, however, is it natural to have these beautiful birds in our living rooms, family rooms etc…?

I've been told my parrot will start plucking his feathers if I clip him, is this true?

Great question however, the answer to this question has yet to be determined. There are many studies being done on self mutilation in parrots. Although wing clipping has not been determined to be the root cause, in some birds, it can be a factor.

The perfect time to trim nails is when your parrot is confined while clipping wings. Here's where those nail clippers come in, use a good quality pair of nail clippers. Examine your birds' nails carefully, it's quite hard to determine in some species where the vein o is. If you're able to locate it, clip the nail above the vein. If you can't locate the vein, clip just the tip of the nail. Doing so frequently, the nail will eventually recede with each toenail clipping.

If there is some bleeding, control it with Qwik Stop, cornstarch, and flour or with a nitrate stick if you have any available. Nitrate sticks are not to be used on wings.

A bird's beak is continuously growing. Daily activity such as climbing and chewing should be sufficient enough to keep the beak from becoming overgrown. Sandy perches are an excellent choice in maintaining your parrot's beak. If it becomes necessary to trim your birds beak and you don't have the expertise, we suggest a visit to your local avian vet.

Parrot beaks are composed of hollow bone, with sinuses on the inside; the outer covering is composed of a thin layer of keratin. As the beak grows, the outermost layer of keratin will flake or peel. This is perfectly normal and no cause for alarm. However if it is excessive, a visit to the local vet may be necessary as it could represent a fungus or bacterial infection.

We cannot stress enough of the importance of seeing your local avian veterinarian if your concerned about your bird's beak.
Trimming beaks is difficult, and practice is required to do a good job without injuring the bird or getting bitten. Incorrect trimming can hinder your bird's ability to eat putting your bird health at risk…

Most birds love to bathe! While some will get excited just knowing its bath time, others will attempt to hide. However, it is important to know regular baths are important to your parrot's health. Not to mention it will bring out the vibrant plumage and keep the dander down. You should bathe your birds at least once a week and if possible every other day.

So how do I get me bird to bath…

In many cases it's as simple as putting a bowl of fresh water on or inside the cage. We have a few birds that love bathing immediately after placing fresh water in their water bowls. Simply let them bath and change the water after they are done.

Now some parrots don't go for the whole bowl on the cage gig…so use the next possible method, misting. Use a clean sprayer, one that has been used for water only. You don't want to spray your parrot using the same devise used to spray pesticides on your plants. Start with a fine mist and change the force of it until you find one your bird prefers. Spraying slightly above the bird letting the water fall like rain is the most natural way and preferred by the unwilling bathers. A word of caution: Following your bird with a spray bottle while it attempts to retreat to a drier area is only causing frustration. Try spraying over one area, allowing your bird to enter and exit at will. This will help develop a greater level of trust between you and your parrot.

Unfortunately some parrots have been "conditioned" by the use of spray bottles as a method in behaviour modification. Ultimately this will only lead a bird to not accepting the use of this method. If your bird is frightened of a spray bottle, and you are uncertain of the bird's history, it may be safe to assume that it has had a negative experience. Consider an alternate method or approach to bathing your bird.

Another option is the shower. You probably heard many stories of bird owners taken their companion parrots into the shower for bath time…it's true. Although it does take some time for your bird to get use to the concept. There are special perches designed for showers, but again make sure your bird develops confidence.

Some birds love to get soaked, while others simply prefer to get misted. You'll be able to tell over time what your bird enjoys the most. The best time for bathing is early morning and when the room is warm. You should never bath a bird at night, while temperatures are cooling off.

One of our responsibilities at the Cuckoo's Nest is getting our hand raised babies used to bathing. They are introduced to water at a very young age so as they grow they learn to enjoy bathing. Every other day we lightly shower with a spray bottle.