Re: [Freeflight] some familiar faces

["Chris Biro" <chrisbiro@s...>]

Hello Emily,

I have delayed posting this sine I wanted to see what other list members
said first. Did not want to sway the opinion before I commented further on
my own reaction.

> I was very disappointed in the article by Mattie Sue. While I have read
> some very well thought out writings on the negatives of freeflight, i.e.
> from Steve Martin, Pam Clark, etc., Mattie Sue just threw out all the old
> myths of allowing birds to be flighted without facts or statistics or
> personal experience to back them up.

I was wondering if it was just me or if someone else might view her article
as being a bit weak. Actually it is this reaction that causes me to be so
interested in how off list people will respond to this entire subject.

> I believe we have dozens to hundreds of people on this list who have
indoor
> flighted birds. How many of you have EVER lost a bird or even had one
> severely injured as a result of flying into a toilet, a window or wall?

It may be inappropriate for me to say this since I wrote the "pro freeflight
article" (without having seen hers) but I must admit that I expected
something a bit more factual. I mean absolutely no disrespect for Mattie Sue
Athens. She took on what I would think of as a tough challenge in writing
this article. I cannot help but wonder what the articles would have looked
like if we has switched roles?

By the way, Carla did a great job condensing my original article from about
5000 words down to about 2500 words. Her original request made it sound like
she wanted a long article, so I gave her one LOL.

> I'm not blaming Carla at all. I just think that if the article had been
> written by Sally B., Phoebe, etc., (IMO much more popular and
> well-respected behaviorists), it would have been much more thoughtful and
> well-rounded. More useful in helping the average parrot owner make more
> informed decisions.

I disagree here. I think as long as you ask someone without any real flight
experience to write such an article, you will always get similar results. If
Steve Martin, who has trained many flighted birds, where to write such an
article, I suspect it would have been better based in facts and had much
less speculation. And to directly respond to your reference to Sally B.,
from what I have seen of her reactions to these kinds of issues, I doubt she
would have done any better than Mattie Sue did. And I am not just saying
this because I was recently booted from her list again (I disagreed with the
use of the term "flock leader") LOL. Though I have seen Sally change her
stance on a couple of issues, I really don't think she has any more
experience with flighted birds than does Mattie Sue. Thus I would expect
similar results. I am reminded of Eb Cravens posts to this list. Though I
was excited to see such a well known personality join the list, I was very
disappointed by what he tried to contribute. When Pam Clark, another fairly
well know avian personality, joined the list and it was obvious to all who
read her posts that she really was involved in flight training her birds. I
don't think you can fake having freeflight trained many parrots. You either
have or you haven't, and to those who have, the difference will most likely
be obvious. But what about to those who have not? Will they be able to tell
the difference?

After reading the "con" article, I am wishing I had written my own "pro"
article with more facts and less theory. I initially wanted to pose the
questions and let the reader answer the questions, not me. But now that I am
responding to the "con" article as being to thin on facts, I cannot help
think mine probably was also.

This is the real question to me. How will the general bird population
respond to this issue? What will they see in these articles? Will they see
the difference in quality of what the experienced people offered vs. the
theoretical fears offered in the "con" article? I suspect they will tend to
see what they want to see, as is normal, but still I am very curious to hear
about any such discussions.

Parrots: More Than Pets, Friends For Life
Chris Biro
ESENCE Website: http://www.thepiratesparrot.com
Freeflight List: Freeflight-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Tel (206) 618-2610