FINCHforum

So today was a pretty day in El Paso , and I took my juveniles out to play in the large avairy. I never had any issues removing or placing them in the avairy. Today my baby flew away . I sat and cried a good while. Theses are our first bread gouldians. So I was attached . I took the father out and had him in our smaller sick cage to try to interest her in coming back . He has been singing 1hr out there and no sign of her. How do I prevent this from happening again? I usually have a butterfly net I catch the bird in and my husband wanted I try to get her and she flew right away threw the main door when my husband had his arm in the cage with the net. ... Any preventive ideas?

Best preventive measure would be to not move your finches from one cage to another frequently. Specially goudian chicks as they are kind of fragile and also may stuck in their molt due to too much stress of relocation. When I have to catch my birds, I do it in a very dark room as they can not see much in darkness. So it is very easy to catch them.

Oh, I"m so sorry to hear about this!

Is it on rollers? Could you roll it into the garage or into the house to take them in/out?

The only preventative I could think of (other than not taking them outdoors) would be to get some tulle --- basically the same material that you'd use for a butterfly net or fish net --- and make a big tube, about 5 feet in length.
The end of the tulle tube would need to be large enough to fit over the entire opening/door to the aviary. The transport cage would also need to fit through the tube.
The other end would be attached to your shirt with some diaper pins or similar. (I'd pin to each shoulder and to each hip, so you'd block the entire opening of the tube with your body, but your arms would be in there to work with them.)
It would serve as a catch. You could work with your hands inside the cage (though the net tube). They try to fly out the door and they get caught in the netting and can't fly out because your body is blocking the exit.

I'd keep food out there for her. She may come back. They generally don't go too far. I'd also keep the adults on a screened porch or by an open window to attract her back with their vocalizations.

My juvenile aviary doesn't have a safety door and the actual door is low, so I need to duck to work in there. As a safety precaution I use an old lace curtain which I attach on top of the cage and use as a "tent" around me and the door when I'm busy in there. Just make sure it is long enough to lie on the floor around you while you are opening and closing the door. The bird will fly into the netting and then usually drop down. You don't want then sneaking away underneath.

Thank you guys for your suggestions! I am a knitter so I am gunna knit a cage curtin ! I feel so stupi for not thinking of it before ! You guys are awesome ! I have had the daddy in the sick cage he has been sending out vocalizations and sometimes I swear I hear her peep . He is out the today with food and water I'm hoping she comes back .

Mrs.V-Perez I had a cage similar to yours but it was indoors. It had a large front door which worried me. I did have a couple of finches get out while I was changing water etc.... so I got a clear plastic table cloth at Wal-mart and cut a piece big enough to cover the door. I hung it with clips on the inside of the cage and left it hanging on the inside so when ever I opened the door the birds would not fly out and it was invisible so not to block the view of the birds.
In fact on all my cages if I don't have the plastic I use flour sack towels to cover the opening until I am done rremoving water and dishes or netting birds.
Sorry you lost your bird.....