Are you worried that your baby might injure itself flying around the room? Here is a guide on how to clip a cockatiels wings for beginners.
Got a new cockatiel as your pet? You might be wondering how to clip its wing feathers and whether you should do it at all.
Clipping the wings of a pet bird is a rather common practice, and there are important reasons behind it.
Regardless, you must do it carefully to avoid hurting your feathered friend. Keep reading to learn more about how to go about it.
Why Clip A Cockatiel Wings?
You might be wondering if wing clipping is really necessary.
To be honest, it’s a controversial topic, and many bird owners feel it’s not fair to clip their pet’s wings.
If you are an animal lover and can’t bear the thought that your bird will not be able to fly, you might be against the idea altogether.
Moreover, some claim that a hand-reared baby who has never known the wild is in no threat of flying off.
In my opinion, there’s nothing unfair about clipping cockatiel’s wings.
It prevents the bird from getting hurt or, worse – dying by accident, and despite what it might look like – it does not hurt the bird.
Flighted birds with unclipped wings can easily hit a window pane, objects in the room, or a mirror or injure themselves in other ways.
I am part of several avian forums and groups, and the pages are replete with poor baby birds who are newbies at flying and have injured themselves doing it.
In fact, one little cockatiel baby had a swollen head and could not even move properly afterward! It just kept walking in circles — poor guy.
Apart from safety, clipping the wings is also necessary to properly tame your pet bird.
An untamed bird will try to get away from you and might even fly out of an open window, only to be lost forever.
It’s not wise to let a flighted bird out of its cage without clipping its wings until you have at least tamed it.
How To Clip A Cockatiels Wings: Step By Step Guide
Now that you understand why cockatiel wings require trimming let’s get started on how to do it.
Before we begin, let me just state that if you are an absolute newbie with zero experience and no one to guide you, it might be better to take your bird to an avian vet to have its wings clipped.
But honestly, it does cost a lot, and if you have more than one bird, it might be easier just to do it yourself. It’s easy to do at home by following the steps below.
#1. Hold the bird
You need to hold the cockatiel in a gentle but firm grip in one hand.
Make sure the bird can expand its chest fully while you hold it, or else it won’t be able to breathe properly.
If you have trouble holding the cockatiel in your hand, you may cover it with a soft and clean towel instead.
Get your pet bird ready by training it to stay under a towel. You can do this by holding it for a small amount of time and giving it treats.
After a while, it will come to associate the towel with treats, and your job will be that much easier.
#2. Extending the wings
Once the cockatiel is firmly in your grip, extend its wings so that you can count the flight feathers.
Remember – the bones in a bird’s wings are very fragile.
They can easily break if you aren’t careful and apply too much force, so always err on the side of caution and be as gentle as possible
#3. Identifying the flight feathers
You’ll find long feathers extending at the edge of the wings – these are the flight feathers.
The biggest ones, located at the outer part of the wing, are known as primary feathers. The ones on the inner part of the wing are secondary feathers.
#4. Deciding which feathers to trim
The number of feathers to trim is a personal decision, depending on how much of its flight ability you want your bird to retain.
The more primary flight feathers you cut, the lower it would be able to fly.
However, make sure not to trim past the first ten. Give your cockatiel a partial clip if you’d still like it to be able to fly, but at low heights.
#5. Trimming the chosen feathers
The traditional way to clip a bird’s wings is to trim all or multiple flight feathers at once.
This creates a straight line with the ends of the feathers, but your pet might also get injured by the sharp edge of a broken quill shaft.
Trim the flight feathers at an angle that matches the length of the shorter and softer feathers covering them, known as covert feathers.
Or,
A more modern approach is to trim the flight feathers separately. You can cut each feather shaft at a point devoid of barbules.
Be careful, though – you might hurt the cockatiel if you clip the feather too close to its body.
Trim both wings equally and never leave any stray feathers untrimmed – they need to grow together.
Clipping Wings: Care To Be Taken
Avoid trimming blood feathers
Never, ever cut feathers with dark shafts – the blood feathers. These growing feathers have a blood supply in the shaft, which is why they are dark at that point.
Be very careful at this point. Breaking or cutting a blood feather can lead to serious bleeding and even kill your beloved pet.
Treating damaged blood feathers
If you end up clipping a blood feather, you need to treat it and stop the bleeding immediately.
Restrain your cockatiel to prevent it from flapping around, and use a cotton ball to apply pressure to the wound.
Applying cornstarch, flour, or blood clotter (like Kwik Stop) should help.
Don’t disturb the injured feather after the wound has clotted – it might start bleeding again.
It’s best to take your cockatiel to an avian veterinarian anyway and get the damaged blood feather removed altogether.
Also, visit the vet immediately if the wound bleeds for more than a minute.
When Should You Clip Your Cockatiels Wings?
It’s a good idea to trim your cockatiel’s wings while it’s still young.
The sooner you do it, the sooner you can take the bird out of its cage for some activity.
Cockatiels need enough exercise to stay healthy and happy. However, it is recommended to wait till your pet has at least learned to fly.
Clipping a bird’s wings before it develops its flight muscles and the motor skills necessary for flying can render it a clumsy flier.
When such baby birds grow up, they might hurt themselves or even break their tail feathers trying to land.
How Frequently Should You Clip Them?
This entirely depends on your cockatiel’s environment and lifestyle.
If you want to keep its ability to fly as limited as possible, give it a clip after the start of every new molt cycle – which is about three months on average.
Also, check for new feather growth regularly.
However, if you want your cockatiel to be able to fly around in your home (and it’s safe), you don’t have to clip the wings as much or as often.
The same goes for birds who share a home with other pets that might attack them, such as cats and dogs.
Being unable to escape by flying can prove fatal for your cockatiel.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I clip my cockatiel’s wings?
Although this is a personal decision, I would recommend you to keep your cockatiel’s wings clipped unless you have an aviary where it can fly around safely.
Letting a bird out of its cage with unclipped wings can potentially endanger it or allow it to fly away. It might cause permanent damage by bumping its head on objects in the room.
Is it cruel to clip a bird’s wings?
Denying a bird its ability to fly might sound cruel, but it’s far better than potentially endangering it by enabling it to fly around your home.
However, there’s a chance that a clipped bird might suffer from psychological and behavioral irritation due to wing clipping.
Can you clip a bird’s wings at home?
Yes, you can clip birds’ wings yourself at home. You just have to be cautious not to hurt the bird or cut any feather that you shouldn’t.
If you aren’t sure about being able to clip your bird’s wings safely, you may take it to a vet to get the job done.
Is wing clipping painful?
As bird feathers don’t contain any nerve endings, they don’t feel any pain when the feathers are trimmed.
Hence, you can rest assured that clipping your cockatiel’s wings won’t hurt it. Just don’t cut the blood feathers – it can lead to severe bleeding.
Wrapping up
So, that’s all about how to give your cockatiel a wing clip. It’s not hard once you get used to doing it, but feel free to take your feathered friend to a vet if you are hesitant.
Thank you for reading, and I wish you and your feathered friend all the best.
