Flipped/rotated tail feather?

Kermit my GCC has somehow managed to rotate her tail feather by 180 degrees. I had no idea tailfeathers could do that. I have noticed her grooming her tailfeathers, but she hasn't fixed it yet, so its been like that for a few days. She's also been growing a new tailfeather in, so is it related to this? I've attatched a photo below (it's the longest tailfeather that's flipped and the one on top is the new one growing in).



Aesthetically, if she wants to be a rebel and rock an inverse tail feather I could care less. But is there any underlying cause to this that could be a concern? I tried to investigate a little further up the base of the tail this morning and saw a very dark speck about half the size of a pin stuck on the tailfeather (not on the shaft, just on the soft feathery portion)... I'm really hoping it's stuck on food and not a spot of blood or anything D: ! I was not able to get a good picture of it, but if that is somehow relevant to this issue I wanted to include it.

Thank you !

It looks to me like she somehow broke it and flipped it over. As long as the break is outside the skin, there should be nothing to worry about. If the break is inside however, it could cause problems.


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I agree, Sage.
Twice in our decades together, the Rbird has successfully (on separate occasions) rotated a tail feather and a primary flight feather, just from his antics and clumsy acrobatics. As I recall, they both either fell out or got pulled out (he has been known to ditch a bent feather) within a week or two.

Turned feathers can occur as part of either Tail or Wing feathers! Commonly it is a feather that is scheduled to be molted and has loosened. For any number of reasons, the feather has flipped. This is fairly common with fully flighted Parrots as a result of a rapid turn or a ruff landing. The feather will molt-out over the next couple of days.

Thank you all ! I couldn't find anything online about this so wasn't sure it was such a common/ordinary occurrence. I'll see if it comes out on its own over the next few days Otherwise, I'll see if I can persuade her to let me check for a break in the feather.

edit;
Although strangely, my little birdie is clipped so how she managed to rotate this feather is beyond me o: I'm guessing she just decided to play rough or had an awkward fall.

I managed to get a closer look at that strange "dark speck" and I think it is indeed dried blood. It was hard to get a good look because she really didn't like me anywhere near her tail, but I'm pretty sure it's on the broken/old tail feather and not the new blood feather coming in. I was always under the impression that old feathers were hollow and didn't have an active blood supply. Is this cause for alarm, or just a minor scrape ?

She likely twisted it in play, a fall or over-grooming. Since a darker shaft is more common as part of a younger feather and a clear shaft is more common with older feathers. You likely have a younger feather, which once lost will get moved up in its scheduled replacement.

Either way, it happens!