our parrott

Question
We have a african gray parrott that we love very much. we bought her when she was 6 months old. she is now 9 months. Saturday we brought her back to the person we bought her from to get her wings clipped. as she was very distructive in the home eating ,biting,and impossiable to get her back into her cage. when she got to know us she loved us always palying whistling and doing her upmost to talk . her favourite was my husband john she just loved him to bits. but since we got her wings clipped she has gone all quite . she wont talk to us or whistel hardly eating and is very quite. my query is . is this normal behavour for her to do this. we had to bring her a long journey to get her wing clipped as we felt that the man we bought her from knew a lot about them which he does when we phoned him he said that she will get out of this as more than likely it could have been the journey that disturbed her. all we want is to get her back to herself. if you could talk to someone who knows about her behavour for me and see what he says. i really need help here with this as it is breaking our hearts to see her like this.also she wont eat much. and just looks at us then she turns her back to us. is this normal behavour. what can we do to get her back to herself,as its breaking our heart to see her like this. we only got one wing clipped should we have clipped the two of them. thanking you kate

Answer
It's not at all unusual to see this when a first time wing clip is done (or even a first visit to a vet). The bird has been handled, probably against her will and she's deeply insulted (and stressed).
 It might take a week, but any longer time than that and you should have her seen by a vet for a full check up.
 
 Otherwise, just keep doing what you'd normally do with her. Talk, whistle, give treats, lavish attention and good, healthy food (to counteract the stress).  You'll notice her bouncing back.

Now that you know how to do the wings yourself, you shouldn't have this trauma again.  We make sure when we handle our birds that we always gently spread the wings out in our hand and get them used to our doing that.  A few days before it's time to clip, we play with their wings while a pair of scissors sits in their line of vision, or even right next to them.  Unfold the wing, keep talking nicely, and now and then pick up the scissors and put them down again.
  When it comes time to clip, they shouldn't even notice.

You'll find that feathers grow in one at a time so as long as you keep the new growth clipped to the same size as the current clipping - doing just one feather at a time is pretty easy.

 So, let her have her mood for now. As long as you're sure she's eating and drinking normally; as long as her droppings are normal - continue your usual behavior and she'll soon return the favor.

 See more about bird behavior and care at my site
   www.4AnimalCare.org