Cockatiel flew into glass door..

[kage no neko]

Our other cockatiel really sucks at sticking landings. So we have his wings trimmed so he can flutter down gently.. instead of flying into walls because he missed what he was aiming for. After he's hit the wall many times.

We trimmed up the one's wings, the one who flew into the glass door. Which.. it's a porch door.. we had the door open to the porch, and for some reason he flew out there, which he had never done before.  

[Akiska]

Just in case I'd put window clings on the mirrors and windows, sometimes it's just enough to let them know it's there.  

[Akiska]

Shearaha

Akiska

Shearaha

My cockatiel never learned how to fly properly (I got her when she was 4-6 years old) so when she come out to fly I'm always on alert. She crashes into walls, the ceiling, the floor, chairs, people, anything really. She has gotten a little better, she can now sometimes actually land ON her cage instead of hitting the wall behind it, and sometimes she can stick the landing on the floor too. Once she's on the floor she also can't get herself back in the air sweatdrop

Does her breathing get heavier with her flying? Sounds like weakness to me. Chester my own cockatiel had that for quite some time, after I moved back in. Now though he flies fine. The hitting things is the weakness in the muscles needed to change direction or position to slow themselves. You might try some shorty fly periods several times a week and build up to some longer ones.

Never noticed any heavy breathing. It seems to be more a lack in coordination. I finally managed to get the cage I've been dreaming of for her, so she can make short flights in her cage. She still will crash into the sides because she frequently misses her perches sweatdrop She's also prone to night terrors and I often have to get up in the middle of the night to get her back up on a perch because she falls off. The vet can't find anything wrong with her, other then high creatine levels, but that's normal for a stressed bird. She checks out perfect on every neural exam she's had.

Honestly I think it stems from the fact that before I got her her wings were always clipped and she was kept in a cage in which she could barely open her wings, even clipped. She literally never had the chance to learn to fly when she was supposed to. The best example I know of is in one of Patricia McConnell's books, can't remember which one, when she talks about her first Great Pyrenees. Little Bo Peep had a deformation to her hind legs when she was born. They did extensive surgeries and PT for her but even after her legs were "correct" she couldn't learn to walk on all fours. She spent her whole life dragging around her hind end even though the legs could function normally. Since it took a while for her to be big enough to handle the surgeries the nerve pathways to the hind legs didn't work right once they were fixed. So she still couldn't walk. She missed her opportunity to learn to walk like a normal dog. Peaches missed her opportunity to learn to fly like a normal bird.

With Chester it was never exactly a pant, or particularly heavy, it's just a pick up in the breathing, a bit faster.  

[kage no neko]

I am hoping to find window clings for the other holidays.. I have some that are autumn themed, which doesn't do anything for the birds since it's too cold for them to go out there.. lol.