Is he plucking or molting?

Hi, I'm considering a 6 year old male Eclectus at a pet store. He has a beautiful green head, a band of gray fuzzy down around his neck, and the rest of his feathers are all nice, wings and tails. He looks a little scruffy on his chest, but it's just mixed colored feathers, not down.

The band of gray down is about 1" and goes all around his neck, which seems to be within reach of his beak.

The manager of the store says he's just molting, however another worker said, "well how would you feel if you were dropped off by your family?" which implies that he is plucking.

My question is: why would he only pluck a ring around his neck and not his legs, back, wings or tail.

And, do you think conditions at the store (screaming cockatoos) would stress him out so that eventually he'll pluck even more? And the longer we leave him in the store, the worse he'll get?

Or is he just molting? They said it's breeding season for him and he tries to mount people's shoulders. So could it be temporary?

Any ideas would help, because he is $1000 and my husband feels he is overpriced and wants to get a perfect bird. But my boy likes him and this bird is already socialized, tame, knows how to step up on command and says a few words. They say he's potty trained also.

Would you get this bird? There is a no return policy at the store, but they send you to a vet of their choice for free if you purchase the bird.

Thanks!

its hard to say but if hes been owned by the same family for that long it would prob be stressfull leaving them .

also if he is not use to other birds around him screaming and so on he could be just stressing.

if you feel comfortable with buying him because it sounds as though hes better off in your care then a petshop that has many bird to care for and they all wouldnt get one on time or the attention they really need just a question are you in australia if so you will probably need a license for him .if your anywhere othere then oz i wouldnt know there laws

Hi and welcome to the forum, without seeing the bird its really hard to tell whether its molting or plucking, from what you describe it sounds more like it could be plucking, its not natural for a bird to have bald or bare spots during molting, what is usually seen among the exsisting feathers and the down are white folicles that contain the new replacement feathers, feather plucking among eclectus is pretty common, especially in males, there can be many causes, poor nutrition, bordem, stress ect, one thing you mentioned was that the bird was droped off by his family, seperation anxiety could very well be the answer here, what I would suggest is that since the pet store is willing to pay the cost of a vet visit, is that you ask that they do it before and not after the purchase, that way you can be sure that the bird is healthy, if they don't agree with that then I personaly wouldn't purchase the bird, and hopefuly the vet they use is an avian vet as unfortunatly many vets today in general practice have a very limited understanding of our feathered friends........

Welcome to the forum. I agree, without seeing the bird it's difficult to know for sure. And not being an expert, I wouldn't know for sure even then...however, Bobby & MP give some good advice above. Good luck.

Awww poor boy. What a bucket load of stress factors in his life. If it is new plucking which it sounds like you may be able to provide the proper diet and enriching environment so it will cease. I would find out if the store will sell the bird to you with the understanding you can bring him back if your are not happy with the results of the vet examination. Please keep us informed.

We can't take pictures at that store, so it's hard to describe. The downy area is not bald, in fact, it is puffy grey downy feathers that looks like a fluffy fur ring that sticks out above the smooth head and back feathers. My son thinks he sees little feathers growing, but since I could not go back with them yesterday I didn't get a chance to see them.

When a bird starts picking is it normal to start at the neck area, or somewhere more convenient? Seems like an awful twist to bend your head around for that, unless he has an itchy area and it might be some physiological reason?

chocotiel said:

We can't take pictures at that store, so it's hard to describe. The downy area is not bald, in fact, it is puffy grey downy feathers that looks like a fluffy fur ring that sticks out above the smooth head and back feathers. My son thinks he sees little feathers growing, but since I could not go back with them yesterday I didn't get a chance to see them.

When a bird starts picking is it normal to start at the neck area, or somewhere more convenient? Seems like an awful twist to bend your head around for that, unless he has an itchy area and it might be some physiological reason?

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I don't think you can say there is any normalcy or consistancy to feather plucking, in many years around birds I would say the most common starting point that I have observed is probably the chest area, some move up to the neck area, some to the lower parts of the body, and some to the wings, I've seen birds so badly plucked that they only had a couple feathers left at the very top of their heads, while the beak is the most common tool for plucking, they will also use their feet, you have a very valid reason for being concerned, I still stongly suggest bringing those concerns to the manager or owner of the pet shop and see if they'll work with you......I can't think of any good reasons why they wouldn't

I'm going to say from experience it sounds like plucking. We still haven't completely figured out why (he got a clean bill of health at the vets after it started), but Cody started to feather pluck around November? He plucked for a few months, and then it just stopped. I have a few theories, but I'm still not completely sure, but whatever it was, the stress factor is gone because he's completely grown back in now. But when he first started, it was exactly what you described. Just a bunch of down feathers around his neck/chest:


Then it progressed until he had almost nothing left:


And this is him now, all grown back in:


I guess the good news is it seems if they don't pluck themselves completely bald, it seems there isn't any real damage done to the follicles. I bet you if you took that eclectus home and gave him a good environment, he'd stop the plucking and grow back his feathers by his next molt. This is just a guess though, every parrot is different.

He is plucking, no doubt about it. Parrots don't have spots where you can only see the down when they are molting (ekkie's down is grey and not white like most other species of parrots). And the neck is a common spot for plucking when they first start.

Could it be the stress from losing his family and been in an unfamiliar environment? Yes, most definitely.

Will he stop plucking after he is in your home with good care? It's likely but not a guarantee. Ekkies are very prone to stress plucking and they are one of the few species that are not that hard to 'turn around' if you catch it early enough.

Will staying in the petstore make it worse? Yes.

Should you buy this bird? That is a very personal decision and one nobody can make for you. I never buy birds from petstores but I did buy two cockatoos once because I felt so very sorry for them. They, like this bird, had been left there to be resold by their previous owners and that is a cruel thing to do to a bird. On the other hand, ekkies are not easy birds to keep because they require a more strict diet than the other species but it just takes work and planning and is perfectly doable. As to your husband wanting the perfect bird, there ain't no such animal.

When I was raising Eclectus, I noticed that during the moult, the feathers around the face and neck were the first to go and were always the thinnest. Ekkies in general look so terrible when moulting, because they're so perfectly shiny when not moulting. Can you get a picture of the downy area? Is it completely down or still interspersed with green? I'd also worry about pet-store illnesses/pests, especially if they sell a lot of smaller birds. If he's itchy he'll scratch the feathers out with his feet.

ETA: If you determine that he is indeed plucking, you need to determine the cause for sure. Ask the pet store if they've had their regular vet see him. If not, then when/if you adopt this bird, you'll be troubleshooting the feather condition for a long time. If the store manager won't discuss your questions candidly ("how would you feel" is kind of a rude way to address someone considering adopting a lifelong family member. It's indirect and defensive.), then I think you should assume you're not being told the whole story. That's not to say "dont get the bird" - quite the contrary, it's sometimes in these situations that you find a best friend AND a purpose with him. But be careful, and try to see all the angles, don't ignore anything. Ekkie's go from stressed to super stressed very, very quickly. A pet store is NEVER a place for an eclectus, IMHO.

You said your son saw little feathers. This could be pin feathers. If this is the case then it is a molt. Look carefully at the birds neck feathers. Pin feathers look like little needles with a shaft over it. The shaft turns white and falls off and then there is a new feather. If the bird is on an all seed diet then that is a case for plucking. I agree with the forum members that have responded so far that it is a case of early plucking which you could control with better nutrition and support to lower the stress factors. One note to remember the Eckies have more hair on the head rather than feathers.

My eckie is moulting at the moment and she looks like a moth eaten rug. Her down is grey, so around her head and neck she's littered with grey spots, there's no uniformity to it. My too is a plucker, there are definate areas she targets and it's all in the same spots. They can turn thier heads like Linda Blair in the Exorcist so reaching the back of the neck isn't difficult

Thanks all, you've helped me determine that he is probably in the early stages of plucking. Another thing that my husband noticed was that his other feathers were scruffy and "greasy" looking. The manager did not come back to talk to them the next time they went to look (but last time said he was molting). But in general, we decided that the store was not the right place for the bird, but not sure we can help, because we're not experienced enough. The bird should really be a rescue instead of a retail purchase, and it is probable that he might have mites or other physiological issues. The place is chaotic and birds are moved from perch to perch, and sometimes he's on a perch where some other parrot was and had poop on the branches, he was never in the same place. The other parrots are loud and raucous and poor little Ekkie looked so shy and out of place. They said his family left him on consignment because of financial reasons.

Poor little thing. It's a shame you wont take him. Don't be put off by inexperience, if you're willing to learn you have bird lovers here always ready and willing to help guide you through. I do understand though, I'd think twice about parting with $1000 for a bird that may not be healthy.

Thanks, can't believe what my husband and son just did. While my daughter and I were out clothes shopping, they went to another bird specialty store and bought a baby male eclectus that is 3 months old. He's still learning to perch and walk and just weaned. Oh my!

Yes, I do feel bad for the 6 year old, and pray that someone will buy him. I would have liked to save him, but my husband is more practical, because $1000 plus vet bills to figure out what's going on, and possibly infecting my cockatiel might not be wise.

Now got to figure out how to take care of a 3 month old. This other store keeps them separate and he just came from the nursery. They had everyone wash their hands before handling the birds.

12 weeks old is pretty young, just some friendly advise, please monitor the babies weight and make sure it has plenty of opportunity to eat, while playing and socializing with your new fid is very important you'll need periods of timeouts for feeding time, the period just after weaning is the most important when it comes to putting on and maintaing a healthy weight....have fun and good luck with you new fid

Okay, first thing - is he weaned? If he's not, you have a whole host of other issues to deal with. Second thing - ISOLATE him from your cockatiel! I doubt that he will catch anything from your cockatiel, but he COULD be bringing in pet-store germs that could harm your cockatiel.