Why do my green-cheek conure's wing feathers look unhealthy?

Thanks for reaching out about your parakeet and including photos. Was he ever tested for Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease (PBFD) and Avipolyoma virus? Nutrition deficiencies, metabolic disorders (liver, renal), hypothyroidism and other endocrine problems, all must be considered. A veterinary visit is recommended to assess and provide a diagnostic/treatment plan. Review and discuss diet with the veterinarian during the visit. Good luck.

Thanks for reaching out about Bangaram and including a photo. Psittacine Feather Destructive Behavior is common in parrots, but the difficulty is acquiring a cause. Stress/behavior is common a nd can consist of breeding, nutritional or environmental stressors. Diseases can also lead to pulling feathers including infectious diseases (viral, bacterial), metabolic disorders (liver, renal), skin diseases and others. A veterinary visit is recommended to assess and try to determine a cause. Diet and husbandry practices need to be reviewed with a veterinarian experienced with birds. Some diagnostic tests will probably be recommended and necessary to come to a conclusion. There is no topical medication that is going to cure or even stabilize this condition. Good luck.

Thanks for reaching out about Sky. Feather loss can be due to poor diet, stress, over-preening, external parasites, skin infections, metabolic disease, viral disease and more. Research and correct the diet birds do poorly on an all seed diet. A veterinarian is probably needed to exam and recommend diagnostics/ treatments. Good luck.

It could be that the feathers just got bent as they were growing in, however if you are noticing other changes, or are concerned about Coqui's overall health, it is always best to schedule a veterinary exam. They can perform routine bloodwork to check for any nutritional issues and illnesses such as PBFB if you are concerned, or even check for more common problems such as parasites or skin infections, and at least give you some peace of mind regarding it. If he checks out healthy, it could just be a prolonged molt or result of simply being him. Continuing to provide a balanced diet (it seems like you already are), providing plenty of enriching toys to prevent boredom plucking.

Thanks for reaching out about Miso and including photos. Psittacine Feather Destructive Behavior can have many causes: stress, nutritional deficiencies, some viral diseases, external parasites (mites, lice) and other problems. A veterinary visit is recommended to assess and provide a diagnostic/treatment plan. Provide more distractions toys, give showers to induce bathing, check and correct nutrition. These are all things to try. Good luck.

Hi there, I'm Dr G and I see a lot of birds. Your conure, even though he is not pulling feathers out is still having some "feather picking" or at the least over grooming. This can have so many reasons! So many! Often at this time of year, it relates to seasonal sexual behavior. It can also be a skin infection, stress of some sort, loneliness, and more. I would recommend an exam by a vet to rule out medical problems before starting to work on behavioral reasons. Increased bathing/misting encourages normal grooming behavior. Making sure your bird is on a low seed/high pellet diet and the pellet is free of colors and dyes. (Just make changes slowly). Make sure you are not encouraging sexual or mating behaviors in your bird by not kissing them, not snuggling them too much and not petting along the lower back or abdomen area.

Thanks for reaching out about Zulekha. A veterinary visit is recommended as a disease called Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease is a good possibility. This viral disease is potentially contagious to other birds and there is no treatment. A diagnosis needs to be made. Other concerns are liver, renal, polyoma virus, just to list a few. Good luck.