Parrot test out feather transplants

ON THE FLY: Dr Adrian Gallagher with Bruce, who has had a feather transplant. Picture: Jamie Hanson MEET Bruce the ringneck parakeet. He's the Shane Warne of the bird world.

He's doing for his "feather challenged" brothers what cricketing great Warne did for follicly challenged blokes across Australia.

Bruce - one of many Australian pet birds whose wings have been improperly clipped - underwent a rare form of surgery. Known as imping, the process - like an avian hair extension - is giving mistreated birds a second chance at flight.

"The bird was falling to the ground every time it flew," Brisbane avian veterinarian Dr Adrian Gallagher says of six-month-old Bruce. "Basically we trim down the donor feathers, whittle down some little toothpicks to make a little pin on the inside of the feather, then we just superglue that into the recipient feathers on the wing."

The procedure was done by Brisbane Bird vet, Dr Adrian Gallagher. Imping has been around since the Egyptians used hawks for hunting, but it has only recently become available to bird owners in Brisbane.

Dr Gallagher's west Brisbane avian veterinary clinic is one of only two in Brisbane that does it. He keeps on hand a collection of feathers from dead birds for the transplants.

"The main thing is to get this guy so he is not falling, to get his confidence up," says Dr Gallagher, who implants two patients a week.

"These birds that fall all the time become very anxious. Often these birds start blaming the owner for the pain so they don't want to come out of the cage.

"Often they start getting aggressive ... and that bird will end up being a caged bird for the rest of his life."

Bruce, an Indian Ringneck Parakeet was the recipient of a feather transplant on one wing after it was cut to short. Picture: Jamie Hanson Dr Gallagher says owners, breeders and pet shops often use the wrong methods for clipping wings - cutting horizontally or too short - and it harms their birds.

But Bruce is one of the lucky ones. Under anaesthetic for 20 minutes, he was flying around the room 10 minutes later.