The Importance of Flight-Feather Clipping; plus Clipping Techniques

[Monica]

(Revisited! Article is probably near completion... If any of you see a correction I should make, or even some rewording [I have stressed some points!] please tell me! Photo's aren't really completed, so to speak!)

The Importance of Flight-Feather Clipping; plus Clipping Techniques

Many people have different views on the issues over whether or not to clip a bird. I am not going to dispute the argue over clipping vs. flighted, as this article is intended for the importance of clipping wings as well as the different types of clips.

Wing Clipping is done to reduce the chance for a bird to fly upwards, or horizontally, though not to hinder the bird completely as to make the bird tumble to the Earth. A proper clip forces a bird to be able to glide down to the ground and a proper clip also helps break a bird’s fall, although it never renders a bird flightless. A good clip should not leave the ends of the pinfeathers sharp, as sharp ends can irritate birds, which could result in over-preening or even plucking.

When clipping, one should do a conservative clip, taking one feather at a time, isolating it from the others, and trimming that one feather. Start by trimming the four primary feathers on the end of each side, and then seeing how well the bird can fly. If the bird can still fly horizontally or upwards, one may need to clip a couple more feathers on each side until the bird only glides down to the floor. Smaller birds may require a heavier trim (more feathers), where as larger birds, and overweight birds would require a lighter trim (less feathers). Again, a clip should never leave a bird flightless, only so the bird can glide down from a distance. Even when clipped, a bird could get a gust of wind and gain flight, and some stubborn birds can learn to fly with clipped wings.

The reason why it is so important to isolate each feather before clipping is to ensure that blood feathers are not cut into, and that if there are any blood feathers, to leave a feather on each side of the blood feather for support. If a blood feather is cut into, it can leave open a shaft for blood to run out, and could be open for any potential bacteria to get in. Clipping all the feathers around the blood feather leaves no support for the blood feather to grow in which case can result in a broken blood feather, which is why you leave one feather on each side of a blood feather. If there is a broken blood feather, you should pack it with flour or cornstarch to stop the bleeding. If it doesn’t stop, you may want to consider pulling the feather out with a pair of tweezers, and grabbing the shaft of the feather as close to the skin as possible. Once you have a firm hold, quickly yank the feather out. If you have never done this before, get vet assistance!

Clipping a parrots wings can prevent a possible escape through an open door or window, or while the bird is outside on your shoulder (when taking your bird outside, it’s a good idea if it is in a cage, carrier, or harness of some sort, to prevent a possible escape). Clipped wings can also prevent the bird from flying into windows, walls, mirrors, trashcans, toilettes, or even hot or boiling pans on the stove.

The pros to wing clipping include being able to better control your bird, especially in case of an emergency. It may help calm down aggressive or dominating birds, forces a bird to become dependant on you, which is good for bonding reasons. Wing clipping may also prevent birds from hurting themselves when they become frightened and will fly into any object that comes near them.
The cons of wing clipping include health issues from not enough exercise, boredom from not being able to explore as much space or have the intellectual ability to fly, less of a chance for escape from a predator (such as that of a dog or cat), and an improper clip can cause injuries to the keel bone, beak, or head, or even cause plucking (from irritation) in a bad clip. Below is a list of clips and their pros and cons:

Full Clip: A full clip is one that clips the entire primaries and secondaries. There are NO pros to this type of clip, as it not only prevents flight completely, it also puts the bird up for dangers to it’s keel bone, head, and beak area. This is the most dangerous clip of them all and leaves a bird helpless. A full clip such as this may result in depression, plucking, or even mutilation, and could destroy a bird’s psych, from being so overly frustrated that they can’t fly.

(Photos needed!)

Show Clip: A show clip leaves the last two to four primaries on the wing in tact, however cuts most or the rest of the primaries. The pros include a bird that may appear unclipped, and it may look attractive. The cons include the fact that it poses a risk to the wings if the outer primaries are caught in cage bars or otherwise, which may result in broken or ripped feathers, or even a broken wing.

Here we have a red-lored amazon, and a budgerigar showing off a show clip, with the last two primaries left in-tact.

One Wing Clip: A one-wing clip trims the feathers on only one side of the bird’s body. The pro is that it prevents flight. The cons, it knocks the bird’s body out of balance as they try to fly, which may result in a bad landing. Bad landings may include injuries or bruises to the keel bone, beak, or head area. The one wing clip also does not look very attractive on a bird when the flights on one wing are clipped and the others are not.

Here we have an indian ringneck showing a one wing clip.

Coverts Clip: The coverts clip consists of clipping the primaries where the coverts end. The pro does include that it prevents flight, and one doesn’t need to clip as many feathers as that in a half clip, however on the cons side, it may leave sharp edges that look unattractive when the birds wings are stretched out. This clip may also bother a bird’s body.

Here we have a rose breasted cockatoo and a budgerigar, showing off a coverts clip with the cut ends nicely hidden with folded wings.

Half Clip: The half clip consists of clipping the primaries in half. Pros include support for new flights, however the cons include the fact that more feathers must be clipped to prevent flight, and it may also leave sharp edges that not only look unattractive, but can also irritate the side of a bird’s body.

Here we have a scarlet, a greenwing, and a lovebird all showing off a half clip, with 8-10 feathers clipped on each wing.

Quill Clip: The quill clip cuts the primary feathers at the quill, or shaft of the feather. It should be below the actual feather, and near the skin. If properly done, this clip allows a bird to glide down, and should not leave any sharp ends to irritate a bird. The only con is that there may not be any feathers for support if a new feather were to grow in… however this is consistent with most all types of clips.

Here we have a rainbow lorikeet showing off what I assume to be, a quilll clip.

(NOTE: All photos here in this article were used with permission from their owners. None of the descriptions of clips were to criticize in any way, the decisions made by their persons. This article was done to explain the different types of clips, and to challenge your mind to think whether or not the clip that your bird has is the best thing for him or her. This article was also made to question the clipping techniques used by vets, pet-store employees, and breeders. It was not done to replace any valuable information from said experts.)

[PEANUT]

Thanks Monica very good post.

[Ainon]

God post!
I'll contribute with some pictures of when my birds were clipped

here is a covertsclip on a budgie




And here's a showclip on a red-lored amazon, 2 primaries saved at the end of each wing (sorry that you can't se the wings more)


and here's a showclip on a budgie (same budgie as the one above) 2 primaries saved at the end of each wing

[Monica]

Thanks for the compliment! And thanks Ainon for the pics! Love the second budgie photo! Very cute!

[Tiki]

Very well done, Monica! I'd like to also emphasize that it still isn't safe to take a clipped bird outside without some kind of harness as they can still get away. I still would like to come up with a better term so inexperienced people don't think the actual wing gets clipped. I think people should have the first one done by the breeder, avian vet or someone who knows what they are doing, then just keep it up.

[Monica]

I did think about that as far as actually clipping flights rather than the wing itself... I heard that people who keep ducks often remove 1 joint from one of their wings to reduce chance of flying when they are adults (of course then there's the other process of breaking one of the wings??? I wouldn't know for sure), therefore remaining on the farm. I can obviously see why some people would be so 'hard core' against wing clipping if this is what they think we are talking about, or of someone THINKING thats what we were talking about, in which case it could cause damage, if not death, if they tried that themselves with their own pets.

Always of course a great idea to get it done first and be shown how to properly clip than try it yourself and end up with a blood feather!

[Tiki]

Monica, it's because of the Tiel Dayna took in last year, I just can't get the image out of my mind.

[birdyland]

Cool Monica..... Maybe call it wing-feather clipping?

Also, Glad Tiki could help ;-}

[Monica]

Or even flight clipping? Or maybe I just need another paragraph???? Hmmm... lol

Well, have a few changes to make!

[Tiki]

OK, I edited it to be Wing-Feather Clipping for the time being.