Hi there. I'm venturing in with some degree of trepidation as I don't like to contribute to conflict as a rule, but..................
I feel that wing clipping has great potential to take detrimental effect on the bird and, potentially, on the relationship. I understand that Hane had reduced aggression concurrent with clipping, but I can say also that I'm sure there are variables in our every day lives that we simply don't notice, and for this reason I am not entirely convinced clipping produced this effect. HOWEVER, Melika certainly knows her bird, and those of us in this thread, I think, do not. It could be that her interaction with her bird did improve through the use of clipping. I'm not willing to endorse clipping, but I am willing to agree that (for good or for bad) it is a tool. A tool is never better than the hand that wields it. I am not trying to say anything bad about Melika for her use of clipping, and I hope that's clear.
My greatest problem with clipping might be that I think whatever one hopes to accomplish through clipping can, in my opinion, be equally or better satisfied by another strategy. The strongest argument I have seen made in favour of clipping is that the properly clipped bird cannot fly up, up, and away. The argument I present in answer is that clipping must be meticulously maintained and there is a good chance of feathers growing in sufficient for flight that is not recognized until the bird unexpectedly proves it has recovered enough flight to escape and it does. I feel the attentiveness required to ensure this does not happen would be better spent in ensuring there is no physical escape route available to the bird, better because keeping exit points secure has, in my opinion, far less chance of producing a negative effect on the bird itself. Here in USA we have a building material called Hardware Cloth, and I'm sure they have it where everyone else lives, too, if under a different common name. Typical window screen may not hold a determined Ringneck, but an overlay of hardware cloth will get the job done.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/34230 ... ware-cloth
I hope my contribution provoked thought. There are many other points to be made in a discussion of clipping, but this is where I wanted my focus to be. I'm not really interested in pursuing analogies at this moment, but my favourite is comparing wing clipping to tying a person's shoes together. For those interested in a non human related analogy, I think horse hobbling is closer to the mark than are ear or tail docking. I've tried both clipping and not clipping, and I have decided that my birds will do better au natural.