There is nothing more rewarding for parrot owners than seeing their birds fly freely and returning to them without any restraint. Free flight instructor Chase Watkin-Jones shares his passion for free flying with us.
Constantly on the lookout for new places to set his five colourful macaws free, 31-year-old Chase sees the world through the eyes of his birds. “There is nothing more spectacular than getting up early in the morning, when everything is calm and quiet, and setting my parrots free. It’s just me and my birds. I guess you could say it’s my meditation,” says Chase, who has been free flying his parrots for four years.
Having relocated to the North Coast from Cape Town just three months ago, Chase and his birds are still exploring the area, finding new places to free fly. They often spend time at Holla Trails outside Ballito.
Chase has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and was previously a competitive martial arts athlete and instructor in Cape Town. When he left martial arts teaching in 2018 and realised he had a bit of time on his hands, Chase decided it was time for a hobby. “My father always had (and still has) a passion for birds. He adopted two macaws when I was about eight years old and the connection he had with them always stuck with me. I decided it was time for me to get a parrot of my own.”
It was while he was doing some online research, Chase says, that he stumbled across a video of a guy in Arizona in the USA named Chris Biro who was free flying a flock of macaws off a mountain. “As soon as I saw that video, I knew that was what I wanted to do.”
Chase got his first bird – a green-winged macaw named Cyprus – and began studying under Chris (an avian trainer and parrot conservationist who has been free flying parrots for almost 30 years). He admits it was very nerve-wracking starting out.
“I’m the type of person who likes to be in control of every situation and I had to learn very quickly that, in this situation, I was not at all in control. It’s scary, but you have to do the training and then trust the process and let your bird go. You must trust them. This is not your typical ‘pet and master’ relationship. It’s a partnership between you and the bird. When he’s up in a tree you learn very quickly that you’re not in charge of him – and it’s all in his time.”
When he started out, Chase was working in real estate in Cape Town and was able to work flexible hours, allowing him to put in enough time to train his birds. When he posted his experiences on his social media pages, he started getting tons of interest and enquiries.
“I toyed with the idea of offering a course and decided to get my trainer Chris’ blessing to adapt his teachings and combine it with my own practical approach, experience and knowledge gained over my time in flying.” When the Covid lockdown happened, and his business closed down, it gave Chase the time and opportunity to create his Gone Free Flying course and mentoring programme. Now his visually engaging course, which includes more than 80 lectures, is used by people all over the world.
While they might not be your typical ‘pet’, Chase says his birds are incredibly ‘cuddly’ and very social. They love affection and interacting with humans. “Free flying a bird just takes the pet experience (for both the pet and owner) to the next level. It is just so beautiful to see how much joy they get out of flying free,” he says.
When he was in Cape Town, Chase says his birds were much fitter and even flying off mountains. Now, however, while they are still learning the lay of the land on the North Coast and getting their fitness levels back up, they are flying at what he calls a ‘level 1’ stage: in plain, open fields with no trees or buildings nearby to distract them.
“The most important thing is to set your birds up for success. Know the area and what obstacles there might be (like strong winds, predators or other, territorial birds) and then trust them and allow them to do the rest.”
Just like you would expect to take your dogs for a walk, Chase believes people should want to take their birds out to fly. Of course, it’s not a hobby that is suited to every kind of person – or every kind of parrot. “You can’t be someone who is too controlling (there are lots of unknowns and unpredictable things that can happen), and your bird has to be properly trained and have the right temperament and social skills as well.”
Chase’s birds are all large, colourful and very vocal, which he says is off-putting to predators, makes them easy to spot and he can use ‘contact calling’ to bring them back.
“Free flight can be a misunderstood hobby and I have had many people ask me why I would risk my birds flying away. Yes, there are risks, but the goal is to set our birds up for success every step of the way. For me there is nothing more amazing than seeing my pet parrots flying freely, being birds, being free. Once you have done it, you will know what I mean.”
Details: Gone Free Flying www.gonefreeflying.com, @gonefreeflying
