Orange feathers and bump on conure by tail?

Before I say anything else I want to make it clear that I am going to take him to a vet as soon as a I can, I just wanted to know if it was an emergency or if I can at least wait until after the holidays.


So I have a Nanday Conure ( he is about 2 years old) and for as long as I can remember he has had a light orange feather right above where his tail feathers start. When I first noticed it I though nothing of it and just let it be it. He didn't seem to mind me touching it so I figured it was normal, I looked it up online and I couldn't find anything about it so I figured it probably wasn't anything serious. Just a few minutes ago I took a shower and let him play in the water that gathered at the bottom (the water was not soapy or anything). I noticed that he had more of the feathers, so I picked him up and noticed he had a bump too. I finished up my shower and took a closer look at it. I'm still not sure if its actually a bump. He still doesn't seem to care if I touch it. So I'm just not sure what to do about it.

Any help would be appreciated. I'm really worried. Any info on the light orange feathers would be great too. (I'm going to feel really stupid its just his tailbone and not a bump haha)

-Thank you

Could it be his oil gland?

That's immediately what I thought of, it's his preen gland. A photo would help, but their preen gland sits right before where their tail feathers start, if you move the feathers away from the gland it's just a little bump, almost like a big zit or an infected hair follicle. If you touch it (kind of rub it with your finger) and look at your finger you should see a little oil on your finger. This is the gland that secretes the oil they use to preen their feathers. You should see him wiping his beak on the gland and then preening his feathers, wiping the oil onto his feathers. I'm not saying that's what it is, but that's what it sounds like. If you post a photo we can confirm. I'd rather be sure than to guess and have it be an abscess or a mass of some sort.

As far as the light orange feathers, it sounds like he just has different colored feathers in that spot. Bird's feathers are just like fur on a dog, there are general patterns and colors specific to each breed and they generally look the same, but each bird has little individualities all their own. I've never known a feather of a different color that looks out of place to be indicative of a medical issue. Now if the feather in a certain area is curling up or they are falling out or something like that there may be a problem, but just a stray orange feather doesn't necessarily mean anything...

When in doubt at all with a bird, TAKE HIM TO THE AVIAN VET ASAP!!!

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