What's up with Pépe's tailfeathers?

I'm fairly new to the conure world, and I am *loving* it. Pépe is a constant delight, and my husband and I are in love. I've been mainly lurking and absorbing information from all of you. This forum is really helpful, and so fun to read and see the photos of your little buddies!

We've had Pépe for a few weeks now. A couple of days ago, I noticed a small white feather (or a tightly clumped bundle of feathers) sticking out of his lower back/base of tail area. It looked like a tight group of white feathers that had been chopped off, if you can imagine that. Like if you took several white feathers, held them together, and cut off the ends.

It wasn't sticking way out, only about a half-inch from the other feathers, but today it's moved downward, and now it looks more like a piece of something wrapped around the base of one feather. The tight grouping of white feather seems to have grown longer and spread out.

I'm probably not describing this very well. Here are photos. Is this just tail gunk working its way down the feather shaft and off his body? Pépe doesn't seem concerned about it, and he doesn't seem to want me to pick it off. On the other hand, it doesn't bother him if I poke around back there.

Thank you for any help or insight.

Looks like a pinfeather! They're biggest in the wings and tail. New feathers grow in protected by a sheath like that. Over time (especially with bathing), the sheath will become thin and crumbly; the feathers will grow out and Pepe will groom away the sheath and he'll have a new tail feather.

It may just be one feather coming in, but if Pepe is molting and getting in new feathers he will get pins all over, mostly smaller actually-pin like ones. He will groom most of them away himself, but helping him with the ones on his head and the back of his neck can be a nice bonding experience.

Yup! it's a new tail feather! just wait until he's had a good all-over molt. It's like putting on a new coat of many colors. Good nutrition and growing out of the clumsy baby stage of life, will make his feathers just glow!

Just be aware that pin feathers are VERY sensitive when they are first growing in so if you touch them and your bird gets nasty, know that that is why. Best to just avoid touching that area until they are grown in.

Oh, so that's what a pinfeather looks like! Thank you all so much for easing my mind (and for educating me, of course!).

It doesn't seem very sensitive at this point, although it was before it grew out. When it was shorter/closer to his body, Pépe let me know that he didn't want me touching it, so I didn't. (Any time he tells me "no," I respect his wishes.) I will remember to be careful with future pinfeathers.

Can't wait for that first big molt!

Thank you again, everyone! I love this community!

I find that the pin feathers around their head and neck tend to be the most sensitive. Usually, once the pin feathers are no longer 'blood feathers', the sensitivity subsides gradually.

Once your bird lets you preen them (rub them between your fingers to remove the 'casing') it means they are no longer sensitive.

They will definitely let you know, so it's good that you are aware of that!

I love this community too! Almost as much as it loves me! HAHA, j/k.

You can also usually tell when one of the smaller pin is ready to 'pop' when the tip gets dark--that's the feathers starting to poke out of the end, and the pin sheath will get softer and more crumbly at that point, especially right after a bath.