Free Flying Macaws in UK collections.

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Pertinax

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
From a discussion on the current Paignton thread about pinioned birds...

Freeflying 'Homing' Macaws used to be a fairly common sight in Bird Gardens in the UK. I can remember them at places like Bourton on the Water, Rode Bird Garden(now closed) and Hayle in Cornwall. It seems this practise is less common these days, perhaps due to the expensive losses if they wander and don't return.

Does anyone know of anywhere that still has Free-flying Macaws?- by that I don't mean ones just used for Bird Shows- such as Whipsnade.
 
Hi, I seem to remember that South Lakes did, and perhaps still do? Not sure which species though.
 
The only place I can think of off the top of my head is The Tropical Bird Garden at Desford,that has quite a few free flying species of Parrot including a couple of species of Macaw,sorry cannot remember which species though.
 
Blossom said:
Hi, I seem to remember that South Lakes did, and perhaps still do? Not sure which species though.
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No South Lakes no longer have them free flying,they are all kept in the Condor Aviary,they used to be free flying but they stopped them after a couple of them got shot while flying some where near Barrow-on-Furness.
 
Panthera Puss said:
I think I was told The Parrot Zoo in Lincolnshire have some free-flying parrots, again I don't know what type though.
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Ah, thanks for reminding me! I have a picture somewhere of 2? i think free flying blue and gold macaws there. My grandparents and I were followed by one right into the cafe and the bird remained at the window until we left!
 
ZooLeopard said:
Ah, thanks for reminding me! I have a picture somewhere of 2? i think free flying blue and gold macaws there. My grandparents and I were followed by one right into the cafe and the bird remained at the window until we left!
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Apparently some fly off-site to visit local gardens & fly back again when the mood takes them.
 
zoogiraffe said:
No South Lakes no longer have them free flying,they are all kept in the Condor Aviary,they used to be free flying but they stopped them after a couple of them got shot while flying some where near Barrow-on-Furness.
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This is one of the problems- another is when they get 'lost' in high winds and don't come back.

I remember both Rode and Bourton on the Water each used to have several pairs at Liberty; Blue and Yellows, Scarlets, Red and Greens, this was in the 1960/70's period. Rode may also have had Mollucan cockatoos freeflying or they may have been featherclipped. Bourton also had a pair or more of Hyacinths but I think they may have been featherclipped also (too valuable to lose?). Hayle also had several species at liberty for a while, including I think the Military(green) Macaw. Again I think they may not do this any more.

In the early 1960's there was a (Danish?) artist/sculpturist who lived in the New Forest who had a pair of Red & Green macaws. The hen was featherclipped but the male was at liberty- he used to fly long distances and was sometimes seen miles from his home at Lyndhurst.
 
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Tropical Birdland in Desford have blue and gold, scarlet and military, IIRC. Also assorted caiques, lories and conures. Very well worth a visit, especially on a weekday when there aren't too many kids and the birds are friendlier. A few photos of various residents here.

We first went to Birdland having seen the tourist sign and having half a day to kill. We thought it would be a collection of aviaries. The first sign that this wasn't the case was parking up in the field outside and spotting a blue and gold macaw perched in the hedge :D
 
Its good to know that somewhere is still doing this. I'm presuming these birds are actually free-flying, not just feather-clipped and wandering/walking around, or partially feather-clipped-which can be done in a way that allows them to fly just a few yards, but not take full flight.

Also the photos don't show pairs of same species Macaws, but maybe that's just because they weren't around.
 
Gatwick zoo (now closed) used to have free flying macaws too. I remember seeing a pair of blue and gold macaws flying around once.

I also once saw a pair of rainbow lorikeets fly past me on the way out of the cafe and they also used to have a large flock of free flying budgies at one time too as well as a sacred ibis that used to seem to always escape from one of the walk through avairies on a regular basis.

In addition they used to have sulphar crested cockatoos and a very bald moluccan in open enclosures with their wings clipped. One time someone through a coat over the moluccan and stole him (as he was quite a character!) They soon returned him through as he screamed the house down i believe! :D I think he ended up going to Leeds castle on the closure of the zoo.
 
Pertinax said:
Its good to know that somewhere is still doing this. I'm presuming these birds are actually free-flying, not just feather-clipped and wandering/walking around, or partially feather-clipped-which can be done in a way that allows them to fly just a few yards, but not take full flight.

Also the photos don't show pairs of same species Macaws, but maybe that's just because they weren't around.
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Yes, the birds are (as far as I could tell) fully flighted, and capable of flying up to and between the trees and even outside the immediate surroundings of Birdland.

Looking closer at some of those photos, there are at least 2 scarlet and 2 blue and golds, but these photos are mostly from the area near the cafe where the birds congregate with visitors. The rest of the park consists of aviaries along a woodland walk, and among those aviaries are large cages with nest/sleeping boxes and entrances for the macaws. These cages tend to have a fair few macaws that aren't feeling as sociable as those near the cafe, and provide facilities for safe roosting/breeding for the macaws.
 
Maisie said:
Yes, the birds are (as far as I could tell) fully flighted, and capable of flying up to and between the trees and even outside the immediate surroundings of Birdland.

among those aviaries are large cages with nest/sleeping boxes and entrances for the macaws. These cages tend to have a fair few macaws that aren't feeling as sociable as those near the cafe, and provide facilities for safe roosting/breeding for the macaws.
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Definately sounds as if they still keep fullflighted Macaws at liberty then. good for them...:)
 
Gavin123 said:
Gatwick zoo (now closed) used to have free flying macaws too. I remember seeing a pair of blue and gold macaws flying around once.

In addition they used to have sulphar crested cockatoos and a very bald moluccan in open enclosures with their wings clipped.
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yes, I have a postcard of some b/g Macaws at Gatwick and they are sitting in foliage in a tree (as opposed to on a bare perch or branch)

I think perhaps Cockatoos don't 'home' like Macaws, therefore the need for wing-clipping if not kept in an Aviary. Bald parrots are often a sign of longterm stress causing prolonged feather plucking, though sometimes its a medical condition such as 'beak and feather' disease. Moluccan cockatoos in particular are beautiful birds but sound like a pig being slaughtered when they scream.

Budgies have been kept at several places at liberty e.g. Woburn Abbey, and Tresco, Isles of Scilly.

Another free flying/homing species is Monk Parakeet- Paignton had a colony for a long time- they initially escaped from their aviary but stayed put and bred in a big communual nest on the top of it.
 
Anne Tunnicliffe, sister of Sally Clubb, has a number of Blue and Golds at liberty at Heythrop.

Coming from Australia where Blue and Golds are priced at around $7000 each, it was very impressive to be greeted by a small fortune on the wing!
 
Combe Martin use to have free flying macaws ( 2 blue and golds and a green wing) when I worked there in the 90's, I think thats still the case, they also have / had a free flying African grey called Guinness that used to fly down to an old peoples home in the village that had some parrots in an aviary, have a chat with his mates for a bit them fly back
 
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