Reasons A Cockatoo Plucks Feathers

Plucking of feathers, a complex and frustrating problem that avian veterinarians see on a regular basis is found more commonly in cockatoos, cockatiels, quaker parrots and Brotogeris parakeets, Eclectus parrots, African grey parrots, lovebirds and parrotlets. There are many reasons why a cockatoo plucks feathers; they could be physical or medical problems, environmental factors, and behavioral or psychological reasons.

Some of the reasons a cockatoo plucks feathers are:

• Some of the physical causes for feather plucking are viral infections like polyomavirus and psittacine beak and feather disease, external parasites like scaly face and leg mites, quill mites, and lice, bacterial and fungal infections like Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Candida, and Microsporum, allergic hypersensitivity reactions, nutritional deficiencies, poor wing-feather trimming, trauma like split sternum or other bone fractures and hormonal imbalances. Some of these diseases are fatal, so an avian veterinarian opinion is needed to rule out medical causes.

• Cockatoos come from the wild where they live in large family based flocks; they could suffer from severe depression if left without attention for long periods of time during the day. This behavioral pattern could also be due to other stressful situations like an addition of a new pet or human family member, the bird’s cage being moved near the window where it is exposed to cats and crow outside or any other disturbing circumstance like a divorce of their owners.

• Boredom could also be a cause of feather plucking; cockatoos are intelligent birds that need to be mentally stimulated and they are unable to entertain themselves. If you notice that the bird is plucking feather removing them with the skin it is time to rotate their toys and spend time more often with your pet bird.

• A cockatoo could feather pluck due to sexual frustrations, when it thinks its owner is its mate and it cannot tolerate him/her paying attention to anyone else in the room or house; the bird gets so jealous and frustrated that it responds by ripping off its feathers.

 
• There could be environment causes for feather picking like the cage being too small, placing the wrong size and type of perches and being exposed to airborne toxins like tobacco smoke and aerosol sprays that make the bird’s skin itchy. Low humidity and lack of full-spectrum lighting or the wrong kind of lighting could also cause frustration that initiates feather plucking.

• Last but most important unclean housing or being handled with unwashed hands also can cause skin irritation and feather plucking; so it is best to keep the cage clean and allow the parrot to shower every day to prevent unwanted plucking.

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