While our birds were unclipped, the household was set up expressly with the birds' safety in mind. They had their own room and were never left unattended to get into things. They were kept in travel carriers when they were outdoors and travelling, and didn't get taken out unless they were in an environment that was safe for them. There is helpful information about freeflight parrots and wingclipping below.
The two photos on this page are what I refer to as the "lost photos" of Baby's last flight outdoors. When we first had her, there were a LOT of things we did not know, and my ex always loved taking un-necessary chances with her. In these two photos, something spooked her, and the wind was right. Before we knew it, she sailed HIGH into the air, landing somewhere in the brambled Texas woods. When I saw her heading up so high into those trees, my heart skipped a beat! We went looking for her until the sun went down. Despite calling to her, she wouldn't answer us. (No doubt, because she was terrified!)
I cried all night after being forced to leave her out to face the night all alone. At sunrise the next morning we went back to the area where we last saw her and called for her. We were elated when she answered our calls. We followed her noise and found her about 3 stories up in snaggly trees with really large thorns. We broke off a branch, hoping she would step up onto it, but she got scared on her way down. She wound up about 1 story up, and my ex, always the "hero" (though he created the bad situation through his negligence in the first place), climbed through those thorns to get her. We were VERY glad to have her back, and she never again flew outdoors. LESSON LEARNED!
Ultimately, Cockatoos belong flying free in the WILD!
Wing clipping is an important and controversial issue, so we feel it's important to provide more information about it. Ultimately it is the individual owner's decision to make. Here are some links for you to visit explaining the Pros & Cons of freeflight, and some wing-clipping methods:
Project Bird Watch Library
Feathers, Flight and Parrot Keeping
"Feathers and flight have fascinated man for thousands of years. However, it is those feathers…the very things that fascinate us…that also frustrate us, since they bring us squarely at some point into having to make a decision. Do I clip this bird’s wings, or not?"
Standardization of Wing Clipping for Psittacines
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