Flying is normal for budgies; these birds learn how to fly very early on in their lives and carry on flying throughout their lives.
Unfortunately, a budgie of any age may start having flying issues, like falling when flying. This article looks into why this happens.
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Budgie falling when flying:
Budgies seem to enjoy flying; they fly when out of their cage, and they will also sometimes fly while in their cage, but they don’t usually fall when flying.
Here is why your budgie may be falling when flying:
Wing clipping:
One reason why your bird may be falling when flying may be that the bird’s wings were overclipped during wing clipping.
Wing clipping is done to keep birds safe, but if the wings are clipped too much, then your bird will fall because its wings can’t support it when it tries to fly
What to do:
You can’t help the bird fly if its wings have been clipped; you’ll have to wait for the bird’s wings to grow back before the bird can fly normally again.
Just keep an eye on the bird while it’s out of its cage, flying, so it doesn’t injure itself when falling.
Obesity:
If your bird put on a little more weight recently and started falling when flying, then its body may simply be too heavy for its wings.
Your bird will happily eat more food than it needs if you give it more food than it needs.
As a result, your little budgie will become a big budgie as it gains weight.
Budgies don’t usually have the opportunity to eat more than they need in the wild, so when faced with a surplus of food, they will take advantage and gorge themselves with food, resulting in fatty deposits on their bodies.
The wings of birds only work properly if the bird is at the correct body weight.
So, if your bird is obese, then the bird may have issues with flying, such as falling when flying.
What to do:
This is not good for the bird, but thankfully, it can be remedied at home.
You can combat this by putting the bird on a strict diet to get it to slim down.
Give your bird the recommended amount of food and keep the treats to a minimum, or don’t serve treats at all while the bird is losing weight.
The bird should slim down relatively quickly and should go back to flying normally again after it starts the diet.
Injury:
Your bird needs to be in tip-top shape in order to fly properly.
If the bird is injured, even slightly, then this can cause the falling when flying that you’re seeing
Your bird may have a major injury, or it may have a small hairline fracture or muscle strain that isn’t easy to spot.
What to do:
If your bird’s injury is minor, then the bird may be able to recover on its own without you having to take it to the vet.
You’d need to keep the bird isolated and in its cage so it can’t injure itself even more if it is injured.
If you examine your budgie and you notice that your bird has a more serious injury, then isolate the bird until you can get it to the vet.
Give the bird its own food and water while it is in isolation.
FAQ:
How to know if a budgies’ wing is broken?
You’ll know that a bird’s wing is broken if the bird doesn’t, and actively avoids, putting weight on the wing, the wing droops, the bird will still try to flutter around, but it won’t be able to take flight, and will rather move around while on the ground
How do I know if my bird is having a stroke
A bird that is having a stroke may lose consciousness, it may fall off its perch, develop violent muscle spasms in its legs and wings, and it may stare blankly
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Budgie Running Around The Bottom Of The Cage, Why Does My Budgie Fly Into Walls?, Should I Let My Untamed Budgie Out, Letting Budgies Out Of The Cage For The First Time, Budgie Sleeping Outside Cage, Why Is My Budgie Jumping Around The Cage?, Parakeet Stays At Top Of Cage, My Budgie Keeps Flying Back To His Cage, Budgie Flying Around Its Cage At Night