Is flight important to the welfare of captive birds?

Frustration of highly motivated behaviours causes welfare problems, with some evidence this may be true for flight, this being one of the most constrained natural behaviours in captive birds. Using phylogenetic comparative methods, this project examines relationships between species-typical wild flight dependency and species-typical welfare indicators (stereotypic behaviours and lifespan) in parrots, to test the hypothesis that restricting flight leads to welfare problems. Findings may provide practical and fundamental welfare benefits, with the potential to improve wellbeing in many millions of psittacines and other kept birds.