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My conure is losing underfeathers on its belly. Molting or sick?

Updated on September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Bird | Conure | Male | 1lb

Hello! I have a green cheek conure and he is a little over 2 years old and he is starting to lose a lot of his underfeathers. Like the white little fluffy feathers. It mostly looks like its on his stomach. Ive had him since he was about 5 months old and he hasnt gone through a molt yet, so I wasn't sure if this was him molting or if maybe this would be something that would warrant me to come in to take a look at him. It's been happening the past 5 days or so.

1 Answer

Most Helpful Answer

Jessica Desrosiers

Answered By Jessica Desrosiers

Veterinary Technician

Published on May 28th, 2020

It looks like he may be losing some downy feathers, which can happen during a molt or when adult feathers are coming in on younger birds. If it's a molt, you'll see new feathers growing in that look like little pins/needles poking out of the skin (hence the name pin feather) -- though these are usually better visible for large feathers such as tail/wing. If you're not seeing this, he seems to be picking at his belly a lot, or you see issues such as red skin, parasites on the skin, etc, a vet visit is a good idea to rule out any health issues.
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