What would happen if the bird was exposed to gamma radiation? That puny bag would never hold him. Never.

Gary_7vn

See all those trees and birds flying free Polly? Yeah, screw you!

Lupison

You see a beatin', I see a jetpack:

Put enough birds in there, get them flapping, and the wearer will elevate.

frigg

If that's a backpack, that dudes taking a leak...

atomx

the mark of an artist is knowing how much to bleed a pigeon

Wouldpkr

Bwok!
Polly wants some crack!
Polly wants some crack!
Bwok!

GiltProto

If the bird flies, does the pack get lighter?

Gary_7vn

Front packs FTW!!!!

Nothing says LOOK AT ME like having a bird crap on your crotch... or something...

JEmlay

why does this have to be limited to birds?
there are other creatures that could benefit from a portable cage

crickets
lizards
small flightless birds
platypii
child laborers...

tegronin

made for miners, to detect the presence of dangerous gasses (liek after eating at chipotle).

IBTL!

tegronin

1) Stuff with parakeets.
2) Shake vigorously.
3) Strap on.
4) Float serenely above the masses!

BongoFury

I hope he/she/it doesn't drive a motorcycle.. Sack full of feathers ftw..

WyldeChef

@DarthTader: Love the miner bit! Fantastic.

So the bird is presented as you walk, not keeping an eye on you in reverse? I hear birds traveling backwards are prone to excessive flapping disorder. Like fin-rot, but for birds.

qbrad

"TGIF, am I right, guys??" classic!

EasyGT

Ahem. I believe that's a FRONT pack. She/he/it is wearing on the front. Not the back. Thank you.

alexmetal

Why?
Do you really need your bird with you at all times? What are you a coal miner? If you were wrong bird, try a canary.

DarthTader

Frooch, once again your headlines assume the worst of the world and draw and classic dualistic sterotypes of the geek and the bully, the nerd and the jock, and what happens? You end up using these assumptions to make these broad blanket statements that malign broad classes of people and simply reinforce those stereotypes. To imply that there are those out there that would beat up a kid and a bird merely due to an excess of dorkdom? That's just assuming that down deep all living creatures are meek prey or sociopathic predators.

When in reality, I would totally let the bird fly away first before beating the crap out of that kid.

92BuickLeSabre

It looks like you wear it on the front, too... So damn stylin...

araddatz

Thats a Sun Conure,, I have one,, and I don't see the point in bothering with a backpack
If you raise them properly (which mine is), they will just sit on your shoulder no matter where you are,,
I have gone to festivals, fairs,, etc (no rides just walking)
So.. waste of money IMO
Look up my handle on youtube if you wanna see how cute they can be

collin8579

[www.drsfostersmith.com]

Tracked down the site selling it.

1roll20s

The bird is obviously embarassed to be seen with that geek.

Curves

@92BuickLeSabre

your punchline made my day:)

pixelchild

Bird, looking down thru transparent bottom: "I 'tot I 'ta a purdy twat!"

Stem_Sell

@Gary_7vn: Yes, it would. The weight would remain the same for flying birds in a closed object (like, as the usual problem goes, chickens in a truck cargo), but the air can pass outside the cage here, so the situation is different.

Also, the airplane doesn't have to use more force to take off on a treadmill.

Isaac

Sure it's ridiculous, but bird's actually do become extremely attached to their owners, so staying with them all the time is in the best interest of the bird. On the downside, yeah you look like a freak.

UniComp

Yeah, it's a frontpack, which begs the question-- what is that guy doing to pose like that? That's unnatural. Is he doing the schwing gesture from Wayne's World?

wild homes has been retconned!

I could be wrong, but that sun conure would probably tear a hole in that mesh and get loose. I love the birds though, and I'd get one, but I don't feel like spending $450 on one.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

What kind of a sadistic, selfish, socially-inept moron would own a bird? You all sicken me, and I have no problem broadly attacking you and alliterating with the letter 's', based solely on that one decision to own a bird. Perhaps I was attacked by a bird as a child, or perhaps I had a roommate who owned a parrot that squawked every morning, every time you tried to talk to her, every time she left the room, and every evening. And every middle of the night-ing. Parrots can live up to 70 years, for fucksake. And then owners that profess to love their birds clip their wings? Wtf. And then they act like the bird loves them when it doesn't fly away. "Well, he's staying on my shoulder because he LOVVESSS MEE ^.^" No, you weak moron. It's staying on your shoulder because you neutered its soul.

2xMEAT

2xMeat<
So why is it wrong to own a parrot but its ok to own a dog or a cat?
And just for your own edification, most of the smaller parrots, such as Conures, like the Sun Conure pictured above, live about 15-30 years depending on lifestyle. And only some of the larger Parrots can live up to 70-100 years.
As for wing clipping? That is for safety. Would you want a bird flying around your house freely when you have, ceiling fans, stoves, open windows? That's just stupid..
The process of wing clipping is like you clipping your finger nails, they are already "finished" growing,, there is no live tissue involved,, and you only clip their forward flight feathers, letting them flutter down if they happen to jump off their perch.
Bird owners are some of the most responsible pet owners I have ever met, can you say that about yourself?
Birds take a lot more attention and love than most pets, so they are only for dedicated people.
And for staying on my shoulder because he loves me? I take walks with my sun conure all the time, it is good to expose him to all the people and educate them on parrots as pets.

So maybe next time, perhaps think before you rant about what you know so little about,,
You don't see me ranting about how your mother must have dropped you,, I don't know,, I can happen assume that was the case

Collin - Collin8579 Youtube - My Parrot Videos

collin8579

It's my pirate dream come true! Now I can finally have a real parrot with me at all times when wearing my pirate costume..

Hello_Newman

But is it an African "sun conure," or a European "sun conure?"

@2xMEAT: "Perhaps I was attacked by a bird as a child..."

Perhaps you should have been...repeatedly.

GadgetPlay

@2xMEAT: My doves don't like you, and the chicken I'm eating is indifferent.

Kaiser-Machead's Chips Ahoy!

@Dawn
"I have two pet parakeets...I'd say I'm doing them a favor. The day they escape is the day some larger creature will be enjoying a tasty snack."

I suppose that makes sense. But it's enjoying the constant company of a noisy, non-mammalian creature that seems so difficult to me.

2xMEAT

@collin8579
"As for wing clipping? That is for safety. Would you want a bird flying around your house freely when you have, ceiling fans, stoves, open windows? That's just stupid.."

Here's a thought: if the bird wants to fly out the window and never come back, let it. Clipping is not for safety--it's for ease of captivity.

"Bird owners are some of the most responsible pet owners I have ever met, can you say that about yourself?"

No, because I never met you.

@Kaiser-Machead's Chips...
"My doves don't like you, and the chicken I'm eating is indifferent."

How can you tell if a bird likes you? It shuts the hell up when you're near it?

2xMEAT

These have been around for years... like at least 6 since I saw one for the first time - I think they're intended for traveling, in seriousness.

@2xMEAT: I have two pet parakeets... They're quite happy with each other and me. Parakeets aren't very high up on the food chain in Australia so technically, I'd say I'm doing them a favor. The day they escape is the day some larger creature will be enjoying a tasty snack.

Dawn

@2xMEAT: Letting a captive bird "fly out the window and never come back" is a death sentence for the bird. Very few pet birds are capable of surviving in the wild.

As for them loving you? Well, parrots are very social animals and have a close bond with their flock. They consider you and your family their flock much like dogs consider you part of their pack. Its much the same relationship really. If you have a problem with people keeping birds as pets, you should have a problem with keeping dogs as pets.

1roll20s

@1roll20s

"If you have a problem with people keeping birds as pets, you should have a problem with keeping dogs as pets."

I wasn't aware that dogs naturally spent 50% of their time soaring hundreds of feet in the air, gracefully riding thermals and flying many miles in a day, and that keeping them as a pet prevented them from doing what they were born to do. As a bird lover, you surely must concede that birds are wonderful creatures that were born to fly.

2xMEAT

@1roll20s
Agree!
@1/2xmeat
- Also not only are they not capable of surviving because they are pets, the climate for most of the US in itself is a death sentence for tropical birds during most of the year. (wouldn't know how to do with excessive heat in the summer, and would freeze to death cooler/cold weather)

collin8579

@2xmeat
Again you show your ignorance
Tropical parrots don't fly for fun, it isn't a vulture,,
They fly to get somewhere or escape predators,
Which adds up to less than 5% of their time in the wild,
They hop/fly from one tree to another, very short distances, and only do it to find more food
If they didn't have to search for food or run from predators, studies have shown that they would just stay in one tree indefinitely

Dogs? If you let a dog wander around, even a domesticated one, it would spend a lot more time moving around than any parrot. So, your logic is flawed, Dogs would spend more time doing what they are born to do if they weren't trapped in a house.

collin8579

This is the greatest flame war in the history of time. Ever. For real. Bird lovers vs birdnotlovers on a gadget site. Yea internet!

SpeedyGonzalas

@SpeedyGonzalas: I agree. Plus, unlike most every other flame wars ever, I feel like I've actually learned something from it!

92BuickLeSabre

This isn't any worse than those stupid handbags for women to carry around ugly little yappy dogs in*. I can't bear the idea of toting an animal around like an accessory. When my cat and I go for a walk, she follows me around voluntarily, and I don't take her anywhere that would stress her out and cause her to run away. If you're taking your pet to a shopping mall full of people you're an idiot.

There is one application where this would be really useful though: travel by public transport, i.e. bus, train, or plane.

*I'm not an exclusive "cat person" by any means. It's only toy breeds of dogs that disgust me.

Xenobiologista

The bird is there as an interpreter or legal counsel.

NoStyle

@collin8579
"Again you show your ignorance
Tropical parrots don't fly for fun, it isn't a vulture,,
They fly to get somewhere or escape predators,
Which adds up to less than 5% of their time in the wild..."

I wasn't limiting my criticism to parrots. I'm pretty sure that bird owners keep captive birds that spend much of their time flying.

"Dogs? If you let a dog wander around, even a domesticated one, it would spend a lot more time moving around than any parrot. So, your logic is flawed, Dogs would spend more time doing what they are born to do if they weren't trapped in a house."

My dog has found the gate open and wandered around many times, and each time he comes back and waits at the front door. My cats have had the opportunity to explore outside, but instead elect, selfishly, to stay in. I don't need to physically alter my pets to keep them from "trying to get somewhere or escape predators."

If these studies show, as you claim, that a bird that has food and no predators will "stay in one tree indefinitely," why do you clip your bird's wings and worry about open windows, as you previously mentioned? Do you not feed it and protect it from predators?

2xMEAT

What's stopping the school bullies from opening the zip?

femisapien

These bags are pretty lame. They collapse very easily and can injure your parrot.

Oh, and Collin? That's a Jenday, not a Sun.

gnocchi1442

@92BuickLeSabre: You're a tech blog reader by day, bird cage nerd hunter by night?
A bit oxymoronic, don't you think?

Daniel

My Sun Conure would love to chew its way out of that bag in about 2 minutes. A nice liner of hardware cloth would be a necessary option for Conure transport.

Ralph48

@2xmeat
If we didn't have ceiling fans we wouldn't clip his wings, in fact some parrot owners don't, and they are free to roam about in the house as they like.
If you want a good example of parrot owner not clipping wings and the bird staying with them, look up "Leo Sun Conure" on youtube or the web, he is free to come and go as he pleases from what I understand and stays with them.

For us in particular, we have 2 cats as well and we try not to tempt them too much with a flying birdie. Even though they have a truce, having been bitten and chased more than once by Gandalf, no point in tempting nature.

collin8579