New member with orange winged amazon

[nalini]

Hi everyone!
I've been referring to these forums for quite some time to see answers from all you talented folks on all my Amazon parrot questions and finally decided to join.
I am from the Caribbean and have one orange winged amazon who is 7 years old. He is amazing! Interestingly he has been developing more yellow belly feathers recently and I am wondering if I should be worried. He eats lots of veggies and fruits daily and seeds aren't his primary food. Would love to hear from you guys. Forgive me if I'm bringing up a topic that's already been discussed, I'm new but would like to be pointed in the right direction. I'll add a pic of him, he photographed thinner than actual in this one since I got him to stretch and elongate himself so you can see the feathers more clearly.
Love hearing all the stories and seeing the pics of these awesome birds...

 

[nalini]

Another picture

 

[henpecked]

IMO , those yellow feathers are because they where damaged (plucked) at some point or it's from a very poor diet ( less likely). There is also a lutino type mutation for many zons. I can't recall seeing yellow OWA, but could be one parent carried the genes. If that is the case i'd suspect yellow feathers to be more wide spread on different areas of the body. I vote plucked feathers that have regrown yellow. Do you think that might be the case?

 

[nalini]

Thanks for the response! I also don't think it's diet, he's a voracious eater and I give him variety so he doesn't get bored. He's a little picky about vitamin A rich foods, doesn't favor them, so I'm careful to give him a "Vitamin A bowl" regularly. On the vitamin A bowl day he has no choice and sure enough he eats it all up so I'm pretty sure he's not deficient there.

In terms of the plucking, I have not actually observed him doing this, haven't seen a lot of feathers on the cage floor or seen him picking at the feathers apart from preening his back etc. I will monitor him more closely though thanks for the tip. Is there anything else I can do? And any ideas about why he would suddenly start to do this?

Thanks again

 

[Birdman666]

I can't even guess on this one...

For all I know this is just some sort of a genetic color mutation. Like the red factor CAGs, if you've seen those... THE RED IN THE TAIL, ALSO SHOWS UP AS SPOTS ON THE CHEST.

Honestly have no real advice to give you. It looks like his feathers are fine to me. They don't look shredded, and he doesn't have bald patches.

 

[SailBoat]

Interesting.

A seven year old has had adult feathering for several years and to push a new and different color patterning is highly unusual. Color patterning is DNA based. Some Amazons will push minor changes as they age, a dominate color in a specific area, but that is predetermined patterning, once again DNA based. The presentation of yellow on a green chest is to say the least rare.

This leaves it to chemistry (diet or surroundings) and/or a stress event.

Keep targeting a well balanced diet and a stress free surrounding and keep the updates coming.

 

[henpecked]

unless it is genetics. The only time I have seen that is in plucked feathers. Normally only young birds who are plucked buy a mate or by their parents. Then it's common for the green feathers to grow back yellow. I normally only see this on the nape or the back of the head. I have never seen this occur on the breast area. Even on hens who pluck a brood patch. I guess all this means I can't explain it.

 

[nalini]

My goodness, looks like I have a special one on my hands Well I'll continue monitoring him, for all intents and purposes he seems ok, eating, active and chatty. Thank you all for your responses, I'll keep updating.