Feather Trimming

Seriously, I'm not going to get into whether or not the flight feathers should be trimmed other than to say that there are three basic viewpoints:

1. Flighted birds - obviously if you want your Macaw to be able to fly, and many do, he's gotta have enough wing surface to do so. You'll never have to trim him, but you will have to make sure he's trained and comfortable enough with you to know how to return. Even then, you may lose him under strange circumstances.

   At the Texas State Fair each year they have a daily bird show with everything from hawks to Macaws to eagles to ducks - all fully flighted and trained to return. A few years ago one flew away. They thought it was because there was a wild hawk in the area at the time and he (the macaw - a greenwing) got spooked and flew outside the area he knew. They did find him a week or so later (before the fair people moved on) over 20 miles away. Happy ending. Others haven't been so happy.

2. Birds which are allowed to fly when young but are then clipped - There is a lot to be said about letting a bird get to know how to fly before curtailing it. It develops a sense of independence and confidence as well as building endurance and chest muscles which otherwise won't develop to the same extent.
3. Birds which are clipped as soon as they fledge - These birds will have never known flight and from my experience (both of mine are this way) don't seem to suffer at all from it. Certainly they are safer in the house and outside.

Basic Styles

Figure 1

First, some things about grooming in general. The section on preening covers the three types of feathers - down, contour and flight. The feathers we are concerned with for grooming are the flight feathers - specifically the Primary Flight Feathers on the wings. Figure 1 shows the wing of a typical Macaw (or any other flight capable species for that matter) seen from below before anything is done. The primary and secondary coverts are layered like shingles on a roof to fill in the gaps between the primary flights, but it's the primary flights that provide the real lift and they are the only ones you should cut. The difference between the Primary and Secondary flight feathers isn't obvious on the drawing, but the primary flights are the ones attached to the part of the wing between the tip and the first big joint (the wrist, believe it ot not). The Secondary flight feathers are between the wrist and the shoulder.

Clip Option 1 For a heavy-bodied bird like a Macaw, cutting the outer 5-8 primary flight feathers on both wings as shown in Figure 2 will leave them so that they cannot gain altitude but still have enough control to (relatively) gracefully control a drop to the ground without damaging themselves. Cut them a little longer than the primary coverts. How many do you cut? One suggestion has been put forward that if you stand at the end of teh bed and drop the bird, if he falls and lands right in front of you that was too many. If he can flap to the center of the bed it's just right and if he makes it to the headboard, it's not enough. Clip Option 2 Some people cut only one wing, but this is dangerous. A bird so groomed will be unbalanced and will not be able to successfully manage a landing without possibly harming himself. You will probably notice that when your bird loses a primary flight or tail feather as part of a normal molt, the same feather on the other side will drop in a day or two. This is Nature's way of keeping them balanced.

Figure 2

Figure 3

Clip Option 3 Other people (like myself) like what is often referred to as the Jailbreak cut as shown in Figure 3. This trim leaves the outer two feathers full length so that when the wings are folded, the bird appears to be uncut and the feathers cross over the body naturally. While a a small light-bodied bird like a cockatiel would still be able to fly cut like this, heavier birds like Macaws are unlikely to be able to achieve lift-off - especially if they have never flown. I used to leave only the outer single feather uncut, but my vet recommended that, if I was going to do this, it was safer to leave the outer two uncut. They support each other this way and are less likely to get broken. HOWEVER - given a little wind, it is possible for a jailbird to escape for at least short distances (hence the nickname). Both of mine are cut this way and they love to flap like crazy when I carry them out to the outside aviary. You can definitely feel the lift but they're clutching my hand as hard as they can (and I'm hanging onto their toes). But I know from experience that without wind, they have no lift nor stamina. The B&G fell off a 2nd story deck a few years ago and 'flew' with a glide slope of about 45 degrees for about 50 yards before hitting the ground. He flapped frantically all the way and was completely winded when I picked him up - not to mention extremely cowed. Again - this is not to say that under some conditions, some birds might get away from you. But my experience with mine shows that they specifically are safe with this cut. Even so, I hold onto their toes while carrying them outside - just to be on the safe side. This cut may not be for everyone - the decision and level of flight risk you are willing to take is up to you.

Making the Cut

If your vet trims your bird's wings, he will probably be toweled. This is for his safety and the vet's and is always, in my experience, somewhat traumatic for both the bird and the owner. Some trainers successfully train the bird to make the visit to the vet possible without toweling but that may be beyond your ability or patience.

What has worked for me is the same idea I used for trimming their toes - turn it into as much of a game as possible. Get them used to your hands on their wings as much as possible - be gentle about it - watch how the vet spreads them - train them to spread them - get them used to the cutters gradually - in short, make it a game between you and them and leave the vet for serious stuff.

I've found that with scissors, the feather shaft tends to slip along the blades which makes it bend or twist and they don't like this at all. So I use wire-cutters (dykes or diagonal cutters) to cut the main shaft and then (sometimes) square up the feathery part with scissors. The dykes I use are similar to the attached picture but if you go to home depot or Lowe's or any hardware store they'll have a whole selection that you can fiddle with before buying the pair that suits you best.

As long as the feather is fully formed, there is no pain at all associated with cutting it other than if it gets twisted or bent in the process.

So when you get ready to start, put them on something that gives you easy access and that they can't move around too much on. Isolate a desired feather to cut as best you can and snip the shaft. I have to admit we're still working on this, but it's going pretty good. There's a video of a grooming session on the web site. The GW does OK and his lunges are fake, but I have to really watch the B&G because his aren't. But he's getting better.