no feathers on forehead

[giogio10]

hi all,

my 8 months old illigers macaw (koko) has less feathers on his forehead since a week ago…is this normal from your experience ?

thanks

 

[Owlet]

This is fine, sometimes birds have a patchy molt and it looks wrong but you can see your boy has new pin feathers coming in. As long as they continue to grow and come in normally, I would not be concerned. If the issue persists with the feathers above the nare being missing, then you might want to be concerned and book a vet appointment. If the issue persists it's possible he is itching away those feathers due to a number of reasons such a mites, skin infection, or something else.

 

[Laurasea]

New ones are coming in so that's great. Could be was injured:
, scraped by sticking his head between bars or something or plucked by siblings. But its also a location they can lose feathers with a sinus or respiratory infection. So worthwhile to get a vet check up.
I don't agree that having a bald patch ( tho they are coming back) is normal in fully feathered bird. Or even in molting .

 

[giogio10]

feathers are growing back strong!