Sudden stain on back feathers?

[adz1984]

Noticed black line across my galahs back after I got home from work pretty sure it wasn't there before but I'm not 100%.
Had a brief look for broken blood feathers to no avail also gave him a shower and it's still not gone.
Pretty sure this is not normal colouration?

 

[plumsmum2005]

Is it oily/greasy and that's why not come off? Best to find the source of this.

 

[Kiwibird]

Any dark color/black dyed toys that may have gotten wet and stained your bird? I know my dads cockatoo has experienced occasional rainbow colors from the dyes used on toys that do not so easily wash off feathers. On a grey bird, that could look black depending on the dye color.

Have you examined the affected feathers? Do they look normal? Greasy? Damaged in any way?

 

[Jottlebot]

Or the dye from dark blue or purple toys? On grey they'd probably look black. I've seen a horrifying picture of a too who gave himself a bath and then played with a red toy while his human was out. It looked like he'd eaten someone!

 

[Laylatoo]

You didn’t give him red palm oil by chance? My girls looked just like that after a small bit of oil mixed into their morning breakfast.

 

[Teddscau]

Have you checked the uropygial gland? Wait, cockatoos secrete dust, not oil.

 

[Aquila]

I've noticed this with my greys when some of the powder down gets removed from feathers, either from water or oils from food, and occasionally over preening.

 

[adz1984]

Second shower today stain still remains..
thanks for all the suggestions but I still can't link anything to the cause.
No toys were wet or could get wet plus he was in outdoor balcony cage the day I noticed it, which has only 1 straw toy that can't leak colour.
Layla, that could be it as I did introduce two new foods for the first time recently (pomegrenade seeds and chop mix) I could see how eating those then preening could do that only problem is I was pretty sure he didn't eat any lol
Aquila, that's interesting how long does the strains last and do they wash easily in your case?
Also if it is indeed a food stain how would I go about removing it?

 

[plumsmum2005]

Have you checked the uropygial gland? Wait, cockatoos secrete dust, not oil.

Thought it was oily but dries to a powder?

@ ADZ1984 I noticed that Plum has a couple of tiny similar marks in the same place. So suspect it is preening or caused by playing in boxes or tubes ie these feathers are being caught regularly so it will grow out? Leave alone IMO.

Continue to shower regularly and ensure that the diet is the very best you can give. As long as everything in the chop list is OK for parrots there should not be a problem.

 

[wrench13]

Max, my beloved but departed canary wing parrot, got a huge blob of mayonnaise on the back of his head & between the shoulders. After I wiped it off, he had a stain looked very much like that. I was advised to use a mild solution of unscented original Dawn and to work it into the feathers, and AVOID getting it in his ears eyes mouth or nostrils. And then rinsing him really well. That worked quite well. Thats the most I would do to see if it will remove these blackish stains . Good luck.

 

[Aquila]

Second shower today stain still remains..
thanks for all the suggestions but I still can't link anything to the cause.
No toys were wet or could get wet plus he was in outdoor balcony cage the day I noticed it, which has only 1 straw toy that can't leak colour.
Layla, that could be it as I did introduce two new foods for the first time recently (pomegrenade seeds and chop mix) I could see how eating those then preening could do that only problem is I was pretty sure he didn't eat any lol
Aquila, that's interesting how long does the strains last and do they wash easily in your case?
Also if it is indeed a food stain how would I go about removing it?

In my Grey's case, it's not a stain, it's the natural coloring of the feather without powder down on it. Washing wouldn't help, as it would remove more powder. If you have a fallen feather of the same color, and you wash it, you might see the same thing. The down is a kind of waterproofing, designed to keep in water so it's somewhat resistant to being saturated and water tends to just roll off.

 

[adz1984]

Just to clear up the black feathers cleared up a few days after noticing them so they were infact a stain thanks for all the help!