Broken Blood Feathers in Wild Birds?

[Quito's Qage]

This has been bugging me. Do wild birds ever get broken blood feathers? It seems like if they did, this would be a significant cause of mortality, given that you always read of the danger of bleeding to death.

If rare in the wild, and broken blood feathers are mostly seen in companion birds, then is it because of the un-natural conditions they live in with us? I.e., do we make them clumsy by clipping wings, and then increase the likelyhood of feather damage by putting them in cages that restrict their manueverability and that have bars and such to catch feathers in?

Quito has only had one broken blood feather (tail feather ) since I"ve had her, and that was on the second day. She fluttered down from a playstand into a cluttered spot that wasn't big enough to accomodate both her and her tail. My fault, entirely . She was a baby, and unfamiliar with new surroundings, and unsure of her abilities, and I shouldn't have put her in that position. But surely birds in the wild occasionally lose their balance and fall into branches or have awkward landings? Are they then vulnerable to bleeding out??

[tielfan]

I would think that wild birds DO occasionally break a blood feather, but probably not as frequently as captive birds do. As you mentioned, pet birds are a lot more restricted so are more likely to crash into things. Clipping DOES increase the risk a lot, because a new feather growing in has much less support and is more likely to be damaged if the bird hits its wing against something.

[Tiki]

Good point. None of my birds have ever had a broken blood feather though their tails get ruffled sometimes. But they live in a huge indoor aviary and don't bang their feathers around much.

[Beaks]

Yes they do but they usually just pluck them out (unlike our parrots)

Wild birds also have better luck with clotting even when they have major injuries like compound fractures and amputations.

Mother nature takes care of the hard stuff most of the time its people that cause a problem by tripping out when they see a broken blood feather which stresses the bird and raises blood pressure making it bleed more.

When your bird breaks a blood feather just jerk it out apply pressure and go on with your life (its no big deal if your bird is healthy and it gets taken care of promptly)

Dont trip when it happens and your bird wont trip.

John