Grey Parrot Feather Plucking

Updated Jan 01, 2011

Many behavior issues that can cause problems with your parrot. One such issue is parrot feather plucking.

Parrot feather plucking is a condition in which your pet chews or plucks its own feathers to the point of obsession. Some parrots pluck from one small area, such as on their leg. Others pluck their feathers from all over.

Despite popular opinions to the contrary, this is not a disease. Rather, it is more of a symptom of a condition which is out of balance. It is exclusively a captive bird problem. In the wild, a bird who plucks its own feathers would be too cold and could not fly.
There are several possible causes for this to occur. Some of the causes are medical, while others are not. To stop parrot feather plucking, you have to isolate the causes.

Many times it is a medical issue, so you can apply or administer a type of medicine that will help your parrot over the hump of the problem. However, there are also other causes that are non medical and some of those include the following

- Boredom
- Nervousness
- Insecurity
- Over crowded housing
- Excessive courtship behavior
- Inadequate bathing facilities
- Breed predisposition

“Itchy Bird Syndrome” is distinguished by the way your bird acts instead of casually preening and plucking. Signs of this are when your bird acts agitated and is constantly rubbing itself against the perch or the bars on the cage.

To stop parrot feather plucking, you need to isolate what is actually happening. Otherwise, you will not know where to begin. Parrot feather plucking can start off slow and escalate as time moves forward.

Making sure that your bird has plenty to play with will also ensure the stopping of parrot feather plucking. There are several different types of toys available that can both entertain your parrot and help you coax them into better behavioral practices.

For more suggestions and help with parrot training, visit Bird Tricks. We specialize in providing unique tips and training exercises that will help you train your bird into the perfect pet!
Feather plucking, if it is allowed to continue, can become a habit that leads to extremely unhappy and potentially aggressive birds. It can also lead to disease. It is important to address feather plucking as soon as the behavior is recognized.

Because there are so many reasons that your Congo African Grey Parrot may be plucking, consulting an expert will help you isolate and solve the problem quickly. One of the main reasons parrots pluck, is because they get nervous around their owners. Many owners of Congo African Grey Parrots have stopped their bird's plucking, simply by training tricks as a way to overcome this nervousness.

More information
- Teach Parrots to Talk
- Grey Parrot Health Issues
- Feather Plucking
_ Grey Parrot Diet
- Grey Parrot Main

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