fishorama
Fishaholic
My firemouths used to flare at the lovebirds' peach faces. I'm not sure the birds noticed much. Each of our 1st 3 went "tank swimming" but only once, for only a few seconds, they learned fast, lol. Your 'tiel & my quaker were too big for that to happen.
Finding a good bird vet can be hard. All of my birds' primaries were "long clipped" so they could learn the "house rules" but could break their fall. After that they were allowed to grow out, a matter of months. That's not really cruel IMO, it's temporary. Pinioning is the cruel wing thing, where the metacarpals are smashed never to allow flight. That was why I had my quaker, he could fly a bit but didn't have much lift & couldn't have kept up with a flock. But he was not native, so the "rules" (federal laws) were different.
At my bird hospital, wild birds would likely be euthanized if they couldn't fly well enough. Hawks & owls can't hunt, long migratory birds can't do that, but maybe ok for local sparrow, finches, etc. That was a depressing but realistic truth to wild vs pet birds. & there are not permits allowed for most wild birds, maybe at a zoo or nature center for raptors or more "unusual" species. That was part of my release "job", to evaluate whether they could live a "normal" life in the wild. & yes, I did euthanize (many) birds like some of us have to do with fish sometimes. I waited to cry until I got home if I needed to. (OK, crying a bit now, it was never easy). But I tried to let new volunteers release birds back into the wild too, since they worked so hard to feed & save them. It was a rewarding but stressful, mostly volunteer job for me, I did it for 13 years.
Finding a good bird vet can be hard. All of my birds' primaries were "long clipped" so they could learn the "house rules" but could break their fall. After that they were allowed to grow out, a matter of months. That's not really cruel IMO, it's temporary. Pinioning is the cruel wing thing, where the metacarpals are smashed never to allow flight. That was why I had my quaker, he could fly a bit but didn't have much lift & couldn't have kept up with a flock. But he was not native, so the "rules" (federal laws) were different.
At my bird hospital, wild birds would likely be euthanized if they couldn't fly well enough. Hawks & owls can't hunt, long migratory birds can't do that, but maybe ok for local sparrow, finches, etc. That was a depressing but realistic truth to wild vs pet birds. & there are not permits allowed for most wild birds, maybe at a zoo or nature center for raptors or more "unusual" species. That was part of my release "job", to evaluate whether they could live a "normal" life in the wild. & yes, I did euthanize (many) birds like some of us have to do with fish sometimes. I waited to cry until I got home if I needed to. (OK, crying a bit now, it was never easy). But I tried to let new volunteers release birds back into the wild too, since they worked so hard to feed & save them. It was a rewarding but stressful, mostly volunteer job for me, I did it for 13 years.
