scootergirl
New member
Joined: 14 Apr 2004
Posts: 18
Location: Northern Minnesota
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 Posted: Fri Apr 30, 2004 12:34 pm Post subject: |
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When a bird molts, usually feathers are replaced symmetrically, meaning that the same wing feathers will be pushed out simultaneously on both wings, for example. Most birds replace all of their feathers at least once a year, usually after breeding season, and some may molt more frequently. During a parrot's normal molt, there should never be bald patches present. During molting, the discarded feather is pushed out by the proliferation of the cells at the base of the feather. The length of the feather that is being molted out has nothing to do with the ability of molting to occur. In the past, it was mistakenly thought that the weight of the feather was responsible for the feather falling out, but we now know that this is not true.
A bird that is molting may have many pinfeathers present, and these are most obvious on the head, since a single pet bird cannot preen the normally present feather sheaths from the back of the head. If two or more birds share a cage, they may preen each other's heads, removing the sheaths. But, you can often tell if a bird is molting from visualizing feather sheaths on the wings, tail or head, most commonly
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Molting is a normal process whereby feathers are periodically replaced and the plumage is renewed. Baby psittacines are hatched with natal down, which is primarily a sparse amount of down feathers. As the baby grows, feathers begin to form in the follicles and they can be seen under the skin as darkened areas. As the feathers begin to protrude through the skin, they are encased in a sheath, and some feathers will be tipped by the fuzzy down feather that preceded it.
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http://www.exoticpetvet.net/avian/feathers.html |
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