We are quite a bonded pair, so losing him would be quite devastating. I have always heeded the ongoing advice of the club to keep his wings clipped. I've heard too many stories where people with unclipped birds think their bird loves them so much they'd never fly off, only to have a sad story to tell. Birds don't fly away from you. They just fly to have fun, or because something scares them.
Animals act on instinct and impulse.
The more they fly, the more they get confused and that's how they get lost. I almost had a close call this year that I want to share, to try to illustrate how important it is to keep your birds clipped. Beginning in the late spring this year, I began letting his wings grow for the annual LIPS Parrot show. The first year he was entered, he won Best Hookbill in Novice Division. The second year, he didn't do as well because of a bad wing clipping job.