Cocoa flew out!!!

[Erithacus]

She is out again today. My wife took the laundry out to dry in the sun. She flew to the curtain and made it out within seconds. I couldn't open the iron grille door because she was sitting on the 2nd pane nearest to the 1st pane (the sliding pane). I had to wait for her to climb further away like she used to do but she flew to the clothes line instead. The clothes line is one of her favorite play gyms.
I told my wife not to panicked. I quickly walked to her and said "kiss kiss" (she loves kissing) to prevent her from taking any unexpected actions. She stepped up and I quickly took her in. I closed the glass door immediately after getting into the house and she made another attempt again.

No photograph this time. I was too scared to take any.

[wishforabird]

  so sorry :( how stressful

[Sondra]

I was worried this would happen. Once a bird learns to get out they do and often. I'm afraid the only way to stop her from repeatedly doing this is to trim her wings otherwise one day she's just going to take off on you.

[Debz]

  oh boy...

[BuffaloParrot]

OIY!!

[zimbasmom]

OMG...Very scary!!!   

Just be VERY careful, and trimming her wings… I don’t think would even be an option, she is harness trained and loves to fly it would be terrible to take that away from her.

[Sondra]

OMG...Very scary!!!   

Just be VERY careful, and trimming her wings… I don’t think would even be an option, she is harness trained and loves to fly it would be terrible to take that away from her.

better to trim her wings than to loose her entirely. Even a recall trained bird can get lost or snatched by a hawk, or targeted by other birds and wildlife. I know first hand.

[macawlover2]

Trimming wings is definitely something of controversy... She is harness trained and has been able to fly her whole life, yet being trimmed would keep her grounded. Then again, even trimmed birds have been known to fly away with the help of an outside breeze. 
Rather than stating my opinion I think this is something the owner of every bird has to decide. I've experimented with both ways and I can definitely see both perspectives :)

I'm just glad she's home safe!

[Erithacus]

Trimming her wings is a big NO NO for me. We will close the glass door when we go out the next time. She wants to follow when one of us is going out.
What I will do is to let her play outside more often. She likes to play on the clothes line and the clothes rack. She will fly to my car which is parked in the porch after she has enough of the clothes line and clothes rack. She has been doing that at least 2X a week for the last few months. I will increase the frequency. Once she gets out, she will look for her favorite spots to play like at the play ground. Sometimes we do recall training together with my wife outside the house. We would stand 20 - 30ft apart. Cocoa has never tried to fly away during the recall training. At the most when she went astray, she flew to my another car which was parked outside my house. And also she has not made any attempt to leave when she was playing outside the house. I have tested her many times.

Later in the evening yesterday, I had her harness with 20ft line attached to the leash. I opened the door and went out. I called her to come out. I wanted to see where she would fly to once she was out. She flew to the curtain instead of directly out and waited for me to pick her up. lol!
She had some fun on the clothes line and the clothes rack for 1/2 hour. Never attempt to fly away. I washed my car and cleaned Mocha's and her cages while she had fun there.

@ Sondra. Thanks for your concern on Cocoa's safety. I will not trim Cocoa's wings which I see it as a punishment for my own negligence. My friend's clipped CAG found his way out of the house and flew away 2 years ago. Gone forever. And another guy's CAG too which was clipped flew away when he was spooked by a loud noise. Both were not harness trained and had no outdoor exposure. Cocoa is a very happy bird and she loves flying to us. I just can't bear to take her flight away.
She has made it out of house 5X. Each time she stayed. She knows where her home is. Hope you understand me.

Cocoa having fun in the evening after her "escape".

[BuffaloParrot]

This is just my opinion.  I would not trim Cocoa's wings due to the fact she has been allowed to fly for a very long time.  I think trimming her would do more harm than good.  Sometimes there are risks in life for the better and this is one of them.  I would though try and think how I could more prevent these escapes.  E is a good Parront and in time I think he will figure out how this can be best accomplished.  

[Erithacus]

I heard from a guy I met while hiking. His friend has a CAG, not harness trained. No outdoor exposure like Cocoa.
There is an empty land in front of his house. Each time when he bathe his grey, he would take the cage to the empty land, took his grey out and threw him. The grey would fly one big round and back to the owner. The owner says he did that to dry his bird. Weird method. He has been doing that for years and has never lost his bird.
I hope Cocoa can do that one day.

[BPMar]

You tell her no more Tuk-Tuk if she goes out un-escorted!  What about a net kind of thing in case the door is left open?  I am sure she would figure out how to get past it though...she is a sneaky, creative girl!

[Sondra]

E, I'm not upset, it's your choice. A slight clip would still let her fly, just not as far and not as high. I also wouldn't suggest taking her ability to fly away unless she was attacking your other bird or your family.
I had 2 birds get away, one harness trained, the other recall trained. Momma is recall trained and she was making her way to me when a hawk who was hidden from view flew from a tree and snatched her in mid air. It was a sight to see, but NOT MY BIRD!! We were lucky the hawk dropped her because it didn't have a good grip on her, yet it cost me over 1200 dollars in vet bills and meds. It also took 5 years off my life. Mommas wings were clipped, a minor clip so she couldn't go really high, that is what saved her life I think. She was only about 8 feet in the air when the hawk snatched her, close to humans isn't where a hawk wants to be.

Higgy was out in the yard in his harness when a neighbors dog broke free and spooked him, he took off because hubs didn't have a tight grip on the leash, it was hooked on his thumb. We found Higgy the next day but the crows had done a number on him, that jaunt cost us $500 dollars in vet bills and meds, and he plucked for almost a year afterwards.

[steptoe91(tozie)]

oh wow! cocoa is an adventor...adventura... uhhh.... D!!!!!! i need spellchecker!!!!!!  okay anyway, cocoa is a mischevious little girl. <grin> tell her she's not allowed to nest in momma's hair until she apologizes for giving ya a heart attack. 

[Erithacus]

Sorry to hear about your bad experiences. I can picture what you have gone through. I always had the harness on my wrist as advised by the manufacturer.
We are lucky we don't have many birds of prey around.