When Will the United States Stop Pinioning Large Bird Species?

Jana said:
Thanks for info, this is news to me, but very welcomed.
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There are quite a few places where they don't do it now for birds in open top enclosures (and they talk to visitors about it), CWP, Hamerton etc. Whipsnade feather clip (recent red crowned crane chick is a good example) I don't think Colchester do pinion either now, as the feather clipping pattern on the crowned cranes suggests otherwise but someone can confirm.

Other places don't do it either as they have the large birds in free flight aviaries. I think it's actually a good example in the UK of zoo practice not simply requiring a law for the care of animals to evolve.
 
Possibly stupid question here (but how else will i learn?): What sort of population management challenges (by which I mean SSP, EEP, Studbooks, etc.) does it create if some zoos move forward with a no pinioning/no clipping policy, while others in their regional association don't. Do the population managers/studbook keepers end up having to treat them as two mostly separate populations, making more of their decisions and transfer/breeding recommendations based upon open air vs. non-open air capabilities, rather than genetic diversity factors? If a zoo moves ahead with a no pinioning policy on its own, because they view it as better for welfare and often better for breeding too, what challenges do they face trying to place those newly-bred non-pinioned animals if other zoos haven't caught up?

To be clear: I know that zoos and regional associations have taken welfare positions that could potentially limit their genetic/population management goals before -- often rightly and this may be another case where they should do so. I'm just trying to get a better grasp of what practical impacts this might have.
 
iloveyourzoos said:
Possibly stupid question here (but how else will i learn?): What sort of population management challenges (by which I mean SSP, EEP, Studbooks, etc.) does it create if some zoos move forward with a no pinioning/no clipping policy, while others in their regional association don't. Do the population managers/studbook keepers end up having to treat them as two mostly separate populations, making more of their decisions and transfer/breeding recommendations based upon open air vs. non-open air capabilities, rather than genetic diversity factors? If a zoo moves ahead with a no pinioning policy on its own, because they view it as better for welfare and often better for breeding too, what challenges do they face trying to place those newly-bred non-pinioned animals if other zoos haven't caught up?

To be clear: I know that zoos and regional associations have taken welfare positions that could potentially limit their genetic/population management goals before -- often rightly and this may be another case where they should do so. I'm just trying to get a better grasp of what practical impacts this might have.
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If a non-pinioned bird was recommended to a zoo with an open-air exhibit, the zoo would wing clip it. I've known zoos to have flocks with some pinioned individuals and some individuals who would be wing-clipped, and going forward I think it's clear that enough zoos are building enclosed exhibits that the norm should be, at a minimum, no pinioning- but wing clipping on an as-needed basis.
 
iloveyourzoos said:
Possibly stupid question here (but how else will i learn?): What sort of population management challenges (by which I mean SSP, EEP, Studbooks, etc.) does it create if some zoos move forward with a no pinioning/no clipping policy, while others in their regional association don't. Do the population managers/studbook keepers end up having to treat them as two mostly separate populations, making more of their decisions and transfer/breeding recommendations based upon open air vs. non-open air capabilities, rather than genetic diversity factors? If a zoo moves ahead with a no pinioning policy on its own, because they view it as better for welfare and often better for breeding too, what challenges do they face trying to place those newly-bred non-pinioned animals if other zoos haven't caught up?

To be clear: I know that zoos and regional associations have taken welfare positions that could potentially limit their genetic/population management goals before -- often rightly and this may be another case where they should do so. I'm just trying to get a better grasp of what practical impacts this might have.
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If this is a topic that interests you, here's a pretty good scientific paper I read a few months ago that relates to this, and shows only minimal differences in behavior and space use between pinioned and non-pinioned members of a greater flamingo flock at the Bristol Zoo:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/zoo.21791

So yes, there are certainly cases where, for genetic reasons or otherwise, zoos are housing both pinioned and non-pinioned birds.
 
Thanks so much for this! I think I hadn't adequately considered the possibility of clipping as a sort of "intermediate" possibility.

Out of curiosity, if a zoo were to take a strong stance against BOTH pinioning AND clipping for their birds, would that cause more of a challenge? Or is the move toward enclosed exhibits moving fast enough that even this would work itself out?
 
Houston Zoo used to have their Chilean Flamingos wings clipped, but they will be getting a new aviary in the World of Birds expansion and apparently the flamingos will be able to fly once this is done. Houston zoos old world vultures are also fully flighted. Houston and Brevard Zoo also recently had expansions that included aviaries for macaws, and seeing them fly around is something to behold. Its a more recent change but slowly more and more zoos in the US are having fully flighted flamingos, macaws, and vultures. I would like to see this expand to cranes, storks, and even ground hornbills and Kori Bustards at some point as well, though I can also understand why those groups which are more terrestrial aren't as big of a concern when it comes to pinioning/clipping compared to birds that spend more time on the wing like macaws and vultures
 
There's also another benefit to allowing birds full flight. How often in recent years have zoos had to close bird exhibits due to avian flu? The areas most at risk, and often the first to close and last to re-open, are those that are open-topped and that wild birds are able to enter. The more birds that are in aviaries, the less of these high-risk enclosures zoos will have.
 
Osedax said:
As some of you may know, we do not have flamingoes or vultures in Australian zoos, though New Zealand's only flamingo flock is wing clipped.
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Taronga Zoo has Andean Condors. I didn't see them fly when I visited, but they are kept in an enclosed aviary and were perched high in the trees, so I assume they are fully flighted.
 
I've been wondering about this myself.
Is there an extensive list of flying birds that are regularly housed with hoofstock?
The usual suspects seem to be East African crowned crane, Rüppell's vulture, marabou stork....
 
La Cucaracha said:
I've been wondering about this myself.
Is there an extensive list of flying birds that are regularly housed with hoofstock?
The usual suspects seem to be East African crowned crane, Rüppell's vulture, marabou stork....
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I have never seen one...but it would be interesting. I am pretty sure that I have also seen the following with hoofstock:
Ground hornbills
Pink backed pelican
Dalmatian pelican
Lappet-faced vulture
Guineafowl
Saddle-billed stork
Sandhill crane
 
I’m late but if it was designed to fly, then it should be able to fly. I speak as a guy who decided to get my pet peach-faced lovebird wing-clipped many years ago. I painfully regret doing so ever since. She would do so well in an aviary if fully flighted.
 
Iguana_Cabana said:
I’m late but if it was designed to fly, then it should be able to fly. I speak as a guy who decided to get my pet peach-faced lovebird wing-clipped many years ago. I painfully regret doing so ever since. She would do so well in an aviary if fully flighted.
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Wing-clipping isn't permanent, though? Once the bird molts, the feathers grow back.
 
She still flies irregularly as a result of her clipping years later (it was a deeper clip afaik) so she still can’t enjoy a proper aviary like other birds
 
I know right the store I bought her from wasn’t well ran and did that and it pains me to this day. I should have known better
 
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