ecky with yellow feathers

Hi all.I am new to this site so bear with me.
I have a male ecelectus parrot who has one bright yellow feather on each sholder. I have viewed LOTS of ecky photo's and havent found one with yellow feathers.
question. does anyone have a male ecky with yellow feathers, has anyone seen one or heard of one.

My Nanday Conure has a rogue yellow feather on his neck. It happens! One feather is fine e but if they start having a bunch of yellow feathers please see a vet about it.

dewy said:

Hi all.I am new to this site so bear with me.
I have a male ecelectus parrot who has one bright yellow feather on each sholder. I have viewed LOTS of ecky photo's and havent found one with yellow feathers.
question. does anyone have a male ecky with yellow feathers, has anyone seen one or heard of one.

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Welcome to Parrot Forums Dewy! I don't know much about Ekkies ( I'm an Amazon Snob!) but there are many qualified Ekkie parronts on this sight. I'm sure someone else will be able to answer your question. I hope you decide to stick around. Whats your guy's name? And feel free to post any and all pictures (We love photo's here!) And DONT be afraid to ask ANY question you may have...the only "dumb" question is a question not asked!!


Jim

Hi there! I've never experienced yellow wing feathers with Cairo. It does depend on their age as well, though. Sometimes, they grow the wrong colours as babies (Cairo has a single blue feather on his chest). But I know my vet said if he did get yellow feathers after his initial molts, then it might be a sign that, as the feather was developing, he wasn't getting the nutrition he needed.

If you're concerned, I do recommend doing a blood test to make sure he's doing ok internally. It can give some insight into whether his liver and kidneys are working properly, which might give some guidance into your diet plan for him.

Hi. Thanks for your reply. "chuck" is 7 years old. The feathers are in perfect shape and are a bright canary yellow. his diet is ok, fruit and vegies mainly (he eats better than i do)

Welcome!

Yellow feathers can be a sign of nothing, or a sign of something very serious. Have you had him since weaning or have you adopted him?

On the harmless end, could just be a one time mutation that will go away with the next molt. POSSIBLE FOR YOU

On the middle end, it’s a sign of a damaged follicle. This is usually only the case with parrot who pluck. Sounds like this isn’t the case with you guy.

On the serious end, it can be a sign of liver damage. First culprit would be a suspect diet.

In your case, good feather, fruit and veg diet, my though is that this is simply a random occurance that will fix itself in the next molt. I had this with my boy a couple years ago around his vent.

My recommendation is the same as above: if you have not done so, have your certified avian vet perform a full blood work up to make sure there is nothing medically wrong. I’m personally very much of the opinion that any yellow feathers on a male eclectus, absent further information and absent an understanding on the part of the owner, is something to take seriously AT FIRST if you aren’t familiar with it. Especially given the prevelance of fatty liver disease in the companion eclectus population.

Once you become more familiar with the bird and it’s feathering habits, you can begin to draw your own conclusions about the cause and severity.

Welcome Dewy! I never knew a yellow feather could be caused by follicle damage, even if this is not the cause for you, I learned something knew! So thanks for the question. You can learn and share with ekkies owners, but I learn lots from posters of every species too, and general topics. So yes stick around and share

I'd like to co-sign wholeheartedly with Chris' post. It's right on point with every possibility.

A duplicate of this thread had been removed by one of our mods, as double-posting is not allowed on this site, but I've taken the liberty of adding the pic you'd included in that otherwise identical thread here in your initial post.

Given the added context of that pic, we can see that Chuck is indeed a plucker. This could support the damaged follicle theory put forth by Chris. But I definitely advocate taking him in to see a certified avian vet to get his blood levels taken. Sometimes the wrong kind of diet can lead to feather plucking, in which case the yellow feathers could be a sign of liver disease rather than damaged follicles. Better to be sure, and this is very much a case where the earlier you diagnose the problem, the better the prognosis.

I'm hoping it's only a harmless one-time event. But it might not be.

I don't see the pic?

Laurasea said:

I don't see the pic?

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Really? That's weird. I put it back in the OP's first post. This one:

Whoa! Looking at that pic again I just noticed the paint on the rail he's standing on. That's also a possible issue, as he might be chewing off bits of it. All kinds of toxins in paint. Potentially life-threatening.

Sorry... still no picture visible here ...

Yep sorry Stephen. Photo not available to us.

Initially I didn't realize that your male Eclectus was indeed a plucker, so I had other ideas as to what might be going-on with the yellow feather(s); however, now knowing he's a plucker probably answers the question...

How long have you had Chuck? Was Chuck plucked when you brought him home, or did he only start plucking since you've had him? Also, an important question that hasn't been asked (though it can probably be assumed) is what sub-species of Eclectus is Chuck? (I believe there are around 10 sub-species of Eclectus, if I remember correctly,
though it's been a long time so correct me if I'm wrong on this).

It's probable that the stray yellow feather or feathers on Chuck are due to damage to his feather-follicles that he's done while plucking; however, it's also possible that they are due to Liver Disease, or with an Eclectus it may also be due to a dietary allergy/sensitivity. The bottom-line is that since Chuck is an Eclectus who is a plucker, he needs to see a Certified Avian Vet or Avian Specialist Vet who has experience and knowledge of Ekkies, as many CAV's don't have much experience or knowledge of them unless they have treated them...It's very important that any parrot who plucks, or any parrot at all, but more so if they pluck, has routine, Baseline Blood-Work done at least once a year, if not every 6 months, so that the levels/results can be compared each time they are taken. Routine blood-work will tell you if he's suffering from any Liver or Kidney disease, infections, anemia, metabolic issues, dietary deficiencies, etc. This is important for all parrot owners to know, but especially an Eclectus, and especially one who is plucking...

Welcome Dewy. My boy Patches has several yellow feathers on his shoulders. He was a rescue who's been with us for about 6 months now. It could just be rogue feathering as was a theory at first. He is a long time plucker, so follicle damage is also a possibility. The next theory is that he may have had an infection of some kind or something that raises body temperature when the feathers are forming. That will cause discoloration. In his case, blood work revealed his thyroid is basically non-functional, also potentially contributing to the plucking. Rare for an ekkie, but I'm just lucky I guess. No matter, he's still perfect, just a little more work but so worth it. He's been on thyroid meds for about 3 months now, and it's looking like the yellows are being replaced with green as they molt out. Still plucking though.

With all that said, I agree with the advice already mentioned- CAV visit and blood work need to be a priority. Hopefully you find out it's nothing, but super important to know what's going on with him. There really are too many possibilities to just guess or assume. Some simple, and in Patches' case, some more serious.

Good luck with him. We hope you stick around and keep us updated. There are lots of experienced, super knowledgeable folks here that are happy to help answer questions or point you in the right direction.

ChristaNL said:

Sorry... still no picture visible here ...

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chris-md said:

Yep sorry Stephen. Photo not available to us.

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Wow. Bizarre! Thanks for letting me know. Sometimes there are things I can see as a mod that other members can't, and I wouldn't know save for these helpful taps on my shoulder.

Okay, since for whatever reason it wasn't showing when I grabbed the original, I've moved the pic onto my own Imgur account so that I can post it from there. Hoping this does it:

It works! Success, thanks supermod!!

Oh yes, Stephen bailed it, your boy is absolutely a plucker. This is likely follicle damage from plucking. I’d still advocate for bloodwork to rule out health contributions.

And could the fencing have zinc coating?? I can see the picture! The yellow red and blue look pretty, even if the yellow is from damage still a pretty boy!

My Mango has 2 small yellow feathers, but he's currently going through his baby molt, so I don't think I should be alarmed?


I do know there's an eclectus in the Netherlands which is almost entirely yellow! I have to admit that it does look different and pretty, but it's usually not a very healthy sign.

A lot of people wrote it off due to a pied mutation which I am fairly sure doesn't exist at all. I rather think it has to do with possible liver or kidney issues or a nutrition problem.

Lentemorgen said:

I do know there's an eclectus in the Netherlands which is almost entirely yellow! A lot of people wrote it off due to a pied mutation which I am fairly sure doesn't exist at all. I rather think it has to do with possible liver or kidney issues or a nutrition problem.

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If you think logically, it absolutely makes sense. In feathers, green is a mixture of blue and yellow pigments. There is absolutely a blue mutation, and a breeder sells them here in the US. So if you can have a mutation where yellow is striped out, is it so farfeched that a mutation exists where the blue has been striped out?