Tips of feathers black

Confuzions

New member
Jul 29, 2018
7
0
Help I'm trying to figure out on what's going on with my Jordan. I just noticed today he has some black on the tips of his feathers. He is a Yellow Naped Amazon. I was told by one person it's from molting but told by another it's his diet. Hes 2 1/2 years old and I have him on fruit and veggie pellets and fruit and veggies. The last couple months I've been working way more than normal so I'm not home with him a lot and didn't know if that could be it. I'm new at this so will try to post a picture.
 

Attachments

  • 20180728_162854.jpg
    20180728_162854.jpg
    96.9 KB · Views: 112

SailBoat

Supporting Member
Jul 10, 2015
17,643
10,007
Western, Michigan
Parrots
DYH Amazon
It is fairly common for young Adult to Adult YNA's to have a very dark Green to Black edging to the ends of their body feathers. This is likely what you are seeing. Congratulations, your baby in growing-up!
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
I don't know much about Amazons, but I have seen several at the rescue I volunteer at with that exact black edge/outline to them that are perfectly healthy...

What your friends were speaking about with black markings on the feathers being a negative issue usually appears as black "barring" or bars across the feathers themselves. These can result from stress, poor diet, boredom, etc.

If you are not able to spend much time with your bird, and he's inside of his cage most of the time, please make sure that he has lots and lots and lots of different types of toys, at least 6-10 different types of toys at any given time, and make sure that you rotate them through with new toys each and every month. In addition to the many different toys, he also should have some different "Foraging Activities" inside of his cage, such as cardboard boxes filled with crumpled-up paper, pieces of cardboard, newspaper, etc. and treats/nuts hidden all throughout the box. Also, you may want to start leaving the TV on for him during the day in a spot he can see it, maybe to the National Geographic Channel, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, etc., or if he likes music then leave the stereo on for him.

Amazons are extremely intelligent parrots and they can become bored inside of their cages even when they person is home all of the time. So if your guy is inside of his cage most of the day, then you need to keep him really busy, occupied, and most of all, he needs to be intrigued and made to think. Think of it like you need to give him "jobs" to do. He needs to be kept from becoming bored as well, which is what the lots of toys inside his cage, and making sure that each one is a different type of toy is about...one toy that is for "shredding", another toy that is wooden and for "chewing" and "breaking apart", another toy that is for "thinking" and "using his beak and feet" like a toy with beads or other parts that he can move, another toy that he can "swing on" or "hang from", such as a swing or a rope-boing, etc. I know that bird toys are expensive, especially the ones of larger birds, but they are much less expensive than a Certified Avian Vet is, lol...

And making him the "Foraging Boxes" is not only cheap, but will keep him occupied for hours and hours. My Senegal absolutely loves the Foraging-Boxes I make, he totally ignores me when he has one, he doesn't care that I'm even in the room, lol. When I make him a new Foraging-Box and he first sees it, his eyes light-up like a Christmas Tree, they pin like crazy, and then the yelling at me to give it to him starts. So i put them in the bottom of his cage and he immediately goes to work.

Usually what I do is find as large a cardboard box that will fit inside the bottom of his cage, and then I find as much paper, newspaper, pieces of cardboard, packing paper, anything that is safe for him, that is not too heavy for him to move, and that can be shoved inside the box. I just start crumpling-up the paper into balls and start throwing it all inside the box, and intermittently I hide nuts inside the shells throughout the box. Then once I fill the inside of the box to the top, then i close-up the box, so that he has to first figure out how to open-up or get into the box before he can even start foraging. And he will work on that box all day long, sometimes it takes him more than one day to get through to the bottom. And it really does become his "job", he works feverishly at it, stopping only to eat a nut that he find inside the box, to get a drink, and sometimes he will actually take a small break to go play with one of his toys, like he wants to chew on a hard, wooden toy and shred it apart for a while, then he goes back to the box...It keeps him happy, healthy, entertained, and most importantly stimulated...

The last thing you want is for your guy to develop any anxiety, stress, neurotic issues, etc. because he's bored, lonely, etc., which can happen when suddenly their person is not around much at all. I know that it's sometimes unpreventable with work that this happens, hopefully it's only temporary, and hopefully you are at least letting him out of his cage for like an hour before work every morning and then a few hours at night after you get home, try to do the best you can to spend any spare time you have with him...And again, please, if you haven't already, get him a ton of new, different toys, along with different Foraging-activities or "jobs" for him to do...you want him to keep his beak busy working and playing instead of starting to pick at himself too, which is another issue that often starts this way...

And be sure to ask any questions that you may have here, there are some fantastic, knowledgeable, and greatly experienced Amazon owners here that can help you with pretty much anything.
 
OP
C

Confuzions

New member
Jul 29, 2018
7
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
Thank you so very much for your input, I will definitely get more projects for him. He is never in his cage so I don't even know why I have one :) but I've got a lot of toys hanging from it for him. He also has a big stand next to ot that has toys hanging from it. Foraging boxes/ toys is something I will definitely do! I have a home camera that I talk to him from during the day while I'm at work and I'm hoping my work will become normal again next month. I always spend as much time with him when I get home in the evening's and unfortunately it's too early in the mornings when I leave for work to play with him. Thank you so very much for replying back and for all the useful information!!
 

ChrisYNA

New member
Jul 3, 2018
71
1
NJ, USA
Parrots
A Yellow-Naped Amazon girl, named Kuba
Thank you so very much for your input, I will definitely get more projects for him. He is never in his cage so I don't even know why I have one :) but I've got a lot of toys hanging from it for him. He also has a big stand next to ot that has toys hanging from it. Foraging boxes/ toys is something I will definitely do! I have a home camera that I talk to him from during the day while I'm at work and I'm hoping my work will become normal again next month. I always spend as much time with him when I get home in the evening's and unfortunately it's too early in the mornings when I leave for work to play with him. Thank you so very much for replying back and for all the useful information!!


You have no idea how much I love reading that. I wouldn't keep a parrot in a cage all day any more than I would a dog or a cat. Mine just eats in hers and then she's right out. I don't know why some people get these birds if they feel so inconvenienced because they have to.. ugh, spend time with them. Anyway, a little parrot-proofing like hiding some of the electrical wires where she likes to hang out and so on, and she's no trouble. She's free the hang out wherever she wants at all times, even when alone.
 
OP
C

Confuzions

New member
Jul 29, 2018
7
0
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #7
I think when I first got Jordan I put him in his cage a couple times but then I couldn't stand him being in there while I was gone. So now our home is his free range home :) I always have either the TV on for him or radio to keep him company while I'm at work. The camera I have also let's me watch him and talk to him any time :) and other than chewing up my hose on my vacuum cleaner, chewing up my cable cord and breaking my TV hes really good lol
 

EllenD

New member
Aug 20, 2016
3,979
65
State College, PA
Parrots
Senegal Parrot named "Kane"; Yellow-Sided Green Cheek Conure named "Bowie"; Blue Quaker Parrot named "Lita Ford"; Cockatiel named "Duff"; 8 American/English Budgie Hybrids; Ringneck Dove named "Dylan"
I'm very glad to hear that he's not locked in a cage all day while you're at work!!! That's the absolute best thing you can do for him in your current situation to make things as good as they can be for him. I'm assuming you've "bird-proofed" your home, or at the least the room he's in when he's by himself, as they are curious and fearless little buggers...I recently had my 4 year-old Cockatiel, Duff, chew the insulation off of the one little, tiny section of the electrical cord to my Bearded Dragon's UVB strip-light fixture that was exposed (about 1/2 an inch of cord that was poking out of the cover that covers it going down the wall). I couldn't believe that she found it, let alone was able to chew through the insulation (pretty heavy, thick, black insulation) right to the bare wires in the less than 5 minutes that she had wondered away from her T-Stand in the living room and into the dining room where my Beardie's vivarium is...Luckily I have all of her lights, timer, water air-stone, etc. all plugged into a heavy-duty surge block, as she tripped the built-in breaker inside of the surge-block and blew the in-line fuse in the UVB light (along with the $60 48" T5 UVB tube that is good for a year and that of course I just replaced at the end of May, ugh)...I didn't realize what had actually happened until I started flipping the light switches themselves on and off and unplugged them all from the power-block, grabbed the UVB cord, and managed to accidentally touch the bare wires with the cord plugged directly into the wall...I shocked the **** out of myself, blew the breaker to the room, and burnt my finger. Duff just stood there looking at me with her head cocked to the side, like "Why'd ya do that?"....Gotta love them...

Anyway, it sounds like you've got a really healthy, happy environment for your bird to live in, even if your schedule isn't ideal right now; hopefully that frees-up a bit for you soon to spend more time with him, but in the meantime, yeah, definitely look-into some different foraging-activities for him. They love to do things that not only make them work, but that also make them think.
 

ChrisYNA

New member
Jul 3, 2018
71
1
NJ, USA
Parrots
A Yellow-Naped Amazon girl, named Kuba
I think when I first got Jordan I put him in his cage a couple times but then I couldn't stand him being in there while I was gone. So now our home is his free range home :) I always have either the TV on for him or radio to keep him company while I'm at work. The camera I have also let's me watch him and talk to him any time :) and other than chewing up my hose on my vacuum cleaner, chewing up my cable cord and breaking my TV hes really good lol

Mine used to watch the old Disney cartoons when I was out and actually seemed to like them. She'd sometimes sing along with some songs. I also now leave the TV on for her or some music. She likes reggae, so that's good since I love the original Jamaican stuff (Marley and others). I wish I could get her into thrash and death metal (my #1), but that might be a project.. :18:

btw, good music for your bird is traditional Chinese music you can find in 1 - 10 hour segments on youtube. really soothing...
 
Last edited:

Most Reactions

Latest posts

Top