Free Flight

[pfcarquejo]

Hi,
As you know I am new here, and also new in the 'parrot world'. I would like to know your opinion about free flight our Parrots. We have a Club here where some parrot owners meet every saturday to let their parrots fly for free. Of course this means training.
I you want to see some images of what I am talking about, you may go to http://clubedospapagaios.wordpress.com/voo-livre/
I am sorry it is in portuguese, but i think you can find the films.

[luvparrots]

That was beautiful to watch. But no it is not something I would try to do with my grey. But thanks for sharing it Paulo!

[Dave007]

Very impressive videos. It can be described as the ideal situation for parrots. Unfortunately, that type of thing isn't really done here in the US because there are very few trainers that deal with free flight. Most parrot owners worry much more about losing their birds than having their birds trained for free flight. There are few if any bird clubs that deal with free flight. Most bird clubs that deal with parrots specify that the safest method of dealing with a flying bird is by using different flight harnesses. Most people know that it doesn't take much for a bird to fly away because of unexpected reasons. Many here have lost birds and they've never been retrieved.
Basically in the US, it's felt by most people that it isn't a good idea to participate in any type of free flight. Here in the US, bird organizations such as Phoenix Landing, World Parrot Trust and other major parrot rescue sites don't approve of free flight.
I do know that free flight is practiced much more so in Europe than in the US. Germany is one major country that does that.