Rocky's flying (a bit)

We've been working with Rocky on flight. He came to us, at age 19, having been locked in a cage for at least 6 years. No flying there! We traced his leg band and found out he was hatched, in 1987, at one of the worst bird mills around (similar to puppy mills). Probably not fledged!

We had to keep his wings clipped for the first several years he lived with us, as he would use his ability to fly for evil -- namely, attacking me aerially.

Over the years, as we've refined our relationship, he's appeared to have decided not to attack while flighted, so he's had his wings for quite a few months now.

One of the things I've always heard, and that is certainly true for Max, is that flying down in a lot harder than flying up. That's not the case for Stella and Rocky! When Stella first came to us, the first flying she did was to the ground. Now, she flies wherever she wants to, but will frequently fly to the floor. Max never flies to the floor -- if she wants to get down there, she climbs. I wonder if this has anything to do with the ages they were when they learned to fly? Max was a baby and Stella and Rocky were adults.

Here's a video of Rocky, flying down. Sometimes he takes a running start, but the table was full of clutter, so he didn't do that here.



He's getting much better at navigating; yesterday he was about to fly into our patio doors (I feared the worst) but managed a U-turn just in time to avert disaster. Who knows if he'll ever choose flying as his main method of transportation, as the greys have, but at least he can.