Letting your budgies out to fly

 

Letting your budgies out to fly

To remain healthy and lively, pet birds should regularly get the opportunity for flying around your house. It is recommended that they should be allowed to stay at least four hours a day outside their cage or aviary. By the way, there is no such thing as too much time outside. In fact, the longer the better.

Now you might think: My birds live in an aviary, why would they need to be outside of it? Well, it is often missed that many aviaries, which seem spacious to humans, offer the birds hardly any possibility for a real flight ant not just flapping their wings three or four times. Numerous birds live in high, narrow aviaries in the shape of a tower – or could also call them “helicopter aviaries”. The latter indicates that birds could only fly in them if they were helicopters because these aircraft can fly from the bottom up. Birds, on the other hand, fly horizontally, i. e. from left to right. Therefore, these supposedly “big” aviaries, that are actually only high and narrow, are unsuitable for birds to fly.

Another argument which is often made against free flight is: My birds feel comfortable in the cage, they do not want to get out, even if the door is open. If this is the case with your birds, you have a problem. Your animals have become “couch potatoes”. This is often accompanied by a lack of exercise, which in turn leads to health problems in birds. Flying regularly can counteract this.

While the birds are outside the cage or the aviary, it is best not to sit on their favorite perch all the time, but to fly a few rounds. This is important because it helps them to burn calories, to strengthen their muscles, and – very important – to air their respiratory system. In addition to lungs, birds also have air sacs that are ventilated efficiently under physical efforts, i. e. when flying. This can prevent diseases of the respiratory system and air sacs. In addition, most birds take great pleasure in flying. To strike hooks in the air and perform wild maneuvers with their conspecifics is often a popular pastime for them.

To grant the birds daily time for flying around your house is therefore important. However, the budgies should not get into danger on that occasion, and in most households, several sources of danger for birds can be found. You should know and eliminate these dangers. And please keep in mind that even if you’re in the same room with the birds permanently, none of these typical sources of danger should be there. Because whoever thinks to be able to intervene quickly enough in any case, is wrong. For example, it’s impossible to stop a flying bird when it is heading for a burning candle. Always play it safe and remove anything from the room that could harm your birds while they’re not inside their cage or aviary. This may take some effort, but it is extremely important for your budgies.