Last Updated on July 28, 2023 by Catherine Tobsing

From Reddit

I’ve had my African Grey for a bit over 2 weeks. He only started flying recently.

He’s a 5-month-old birb and I’m getting worried because when he flies he usually flies into a wall.

Our Response:

Flying into walls can be based on color.

A white or blue wall may be Interpreted by the bird as the sky.

Flying into clear glass windows is a very real hazard.

What your bird is experiencing is, “panic flight”.

Birds don’t need flying lessons, they need to be taught how and where to land.

We have 10 flighted birds in our home.

All windows have blinds, dream catchers, stained glass, and so forth.

Our newly rescued cockatiel flies into the blinds because he knows he can land on them.


Peaches the Senegal parrot flight training
week 3 ~ video

The problem is he’s breaking his tail feathers and he doesn’t have the confidence to let go, then spin 180 degrees then fly horizontally, which any flight-experienced bird knows how to do.

Picture a reverse Corkscrew motion.

In the bird communities, I hear a lot of “beak speak”  about fatty liver disease.

Forget about all the other causes mentioned across the internet.

Find the right food for your African Grey on Windy City Parrot Here

Fatty liver disease triggers are the same for humans.

Too much fat and too little exercise.

Birds were born to fly.

Their instinctual expectations are to fly within 20 – 50 square miles covering much of that daily.

If they are lucky they get a few hundred square feet in captivity.

It is our responsibility ( As a human who took the birds out of the sky) to train our FIDs (Feathered kids) brains how to adapt to human habitats.

A Better Bird Ep 13 How Bird Proof Is Your Home.

Let us know how your bird progresses.

Best

MitchR