Forum for grey owners

I joined a forum which is dedicated to parrot owners such as me http://www.africangreyforum.com/forum/ , I learned from my previous encounter with Birdie with new hope in getting additional help from this forum.
A guy asked me once about free flying an African grey so I posted the following
Well first and foremost do not take any risks and try to fly your bird outdoors without any experience.

I tried many things for my bird Birdie. First at close to 2 months of age I tried letting her loose in the room. Birdie has a habit of flapping her wings around and takes the effort trying to fly by that time. important thing for me was directing her where to land, it was tricky coz most of the time she landed on my shoulders or head, after the first few weeks eventually I got her to land on my finger, which I gave a great treat every time she landed on my finger.

I continued having fun with birdie until her first flight outdoors commenced at 4months of age. I had her put on a self made clip on leg band which can be used to attaché one of my fishing lines just in case she freaks out and fly elsewhere (most of the time it does happen). there’s a huge empty space on villigili (an island near to Male’) where there’s less trees where we play soccer, I took Birdie there and kept her in the middle of the field until she got used to the environment (45 minutes or so) then I tried keeping her on a low branch distanced myself about 5 to eight feet and called her name. First few tries she flew and landed on my finger and as usual favorite treat rewarded each time she does it right. As she got more comfortable at 8 feet I distanced myself a bit longer like 13feet, continued the same steps. I try this sort of training even now and progress is good.

FYI: I HAVE A LOT OF EXPERIENCE WITH OTHER BIRDS SUCH AS CONURES AND ALL BUT THE MESSAGE IS THAT GREYS ARE STILL WILD AT HEART AS THEY HAVE BEEN DOMISTICATED FAR LATER THAN CATS AND DOGS. THE ENVIRONMENT YOU TAKE YOUR BIRD IS NOT FAMILIER TO THEM AND ANYTHING COULD FREAK THEM OUT LIKE IN THE CITY (LOUD NOISES OR TRAFFIC) THEIR FIRST INSTICT IS TO FLEE TO SAFETY ALONG THE WAY LOOSES THE WAY BACK TO THE OWNER AND GETS LOST. FIRST TIME I TOOK BIRDIE TO THE BEACH, SHE FREAKED OUT BECAUSE OF THE WAVES AND TRIED TO FLY OFF MY SHOULDER.MY ADVICE IS DONT TAKE ANY RISKS UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY CONFIDENT, I KNOW I WOULD NOT LET BIRDIE FLY WITH OUT THE SECURITY OF MY FISHING LINE.TOO RISKY AND I WOULD BE TOO SAD TO LOOSE HER.

I first started by building Birdies confidence around me and my house, then moved on to the next step outdoors with secure line attached to her leg. I hope I have helped u to my experience. STILL DONT TRY OUT DOORS UNLESS U ARE REALLY CONFIDENT AND GET HELP FROM AN EXPERT.