Still molting...

[KimKim]

So Babalu is still losing big and small feathers, a couple a day. He has now lost only a couple clipped feathers. But I noticed something the other day, when he preens, going from behind under his wings, there are spots on both sides that dont have the regular feathers just the down ones. Is that how it normally is or is it because he is still molting? I tried to get a pick but was to slow and he saw me:) you can only see these spots when he moves his wing down when preening.

[KimKim]

not sure if you can tell by this pic... but it is the only one I was able to get, he is done preening now.

[KimKim]

you can see a tiny bit of the bald spot but when he opens his feathers it is way bigger

[KimKim]

I got better pictures

[Luvparrots]

Are you concerned that Babalu is plucking. I have an ekkie that is a plucker and believe me Babalu looks fine. Right now my Amazon has lots of down feathers throughout his cage and I know he is not plucking. Ana Grey just went through molting feathers and loosing a lot of down feathers. I know she is not plucking. If you are concerned then take Babalu to the vet to rule out a health problem.

[Dave007]

No molt looks even nor can a time limit be figured out. Feathers fall here and there. Some fallout is heavy and some is light. some feathers are heavier than others. Some fluffy feathers stay there for a longer amount of time but eventually they fall out. What you're seeing is totally normal. Actually, your bird's feathers look great but molting can be an eye sore at times. The feathers that are clipped and falling out aren't molting out. They're now dead and are simply falling out. It's a coincidence. Long after your bird is finished molting, flight feathers will fall out periodically all year long and it won't matter if they're clipped or not and that includes tail feathers.

[KimKim]

No, I do not think he is plucking, I was just wondering if that is normal to not have feathers there. Or if it is not normal, then that might be where he is molting and the new feathers have not grown in? But of course if it seems to get worse or spread I will take him to see a vet.

[KimKim]

You posted faster than me after luvparrots Dave! I was thinking its funny that now I want him to be able to fly and it seems to be taking forever, as when before I was having to clip him more:) or so it seemed.

[KimKim]

I dont mean to sound so uneducated about birds, but molting is different than dead feathers falling out?

[Dave007]

Molting is the time when old feathers fall out and are replaced with feathers that have lots of thickness and are generally fresh. It's a seasonal thing. Flight and tail feathers have a blood supply in them and when that blood supply dries up, the flight or tail feather falls out and a new one is right behind it to take it's place. Flight and tail feathers fall out periodically all year long. One or two here or there, maybe one, maybe three. There's no way to predict when they will fall out. They're falling out because their blood supply is gone which leaves the base of the feather brittle. So molting is a guaranteed thing which can happen once or twice a year depending upon the surrounding dryness and the amount of humidity and the constant temperature levels where the bird lives.

Also concerning clipped feathers------clipped feathers aren't dead. Their blood supply also has to dry up before they fall off.

Feathers that molt out are dead. Feathers that fall out due to a lack of blood supply are dead.

Edited October 8, 2010 by Dave007