Patches of Black on Jake's Feathers

[nelly&jake]

Okay, after these posts of all the feather color variations, I have been looking at my Jake's feathers a lot more closely and was wondering if anyone else has noticed some black patches on the green feathers covering the wing? I have looked at many of Jake's pictures from even before we got him and the black patches were there in some of them. But, I think that there is more now than there was back when the first pictures we have of him were taken. Does anyone have any ideas? I have plans to call my vet but, well, everyone here seems to have very good information and experiance, I was hoping someone might have some kind of an idea what is going on. He is not picking, plucking, or fussing at all, in fact he is perfectly normal in behaviour and everything else. I'm probably just and overprotective mommy! I have attached a few pics of the strange patches. The weird thing is that it isn't even the entire feather that is black in most cases.

[nelly&jake]

This is just to point out where the black patches are: Near the curve of the wing as it folds into the shoulder on both wings. You can see the long black stripe along the front of his left wing and there are several patches behind it. One of his wings is droopy from the episode with a cat when he was a baby but, he can fly just fine if he is not kept clipped. Hope someone has a clue... I looked up as many feather diseases as I could and didn't find anything to fit this, so I am hoping it is something that is normal.

[debbruce]

I must be a nervous mommy. Bubba has a few black patches that we were told were stress markings. He was born in August 2004 and spend his babyhood going through 4 hurricanes in S. Florida. I know what normal stress markings are, but some are more "oval" than others. I've called his breeder several times and he assured me they would grow out as he grows.

Just a thought...
Debbie

[nelly&jake]

Thanks for the hint, I hope thats all it is!

[volvobirds]

my Jenday has abit of the black on the edges of his wing feathers, but he's been seen by the vet who pronounced him perfectly healthy. he said the stress bars he has may be due to temp changes and when he went thru the move from the pet store to our house. we had it explained like this: you know how fingernails get ridges from past injury or sickness? basically the same sort of thing, just feathers instead of nails.

[nelly&jake]

After visiting with my vet, who we will be seeing on the 28th anyway, she thought it sounded like a molting color change. Silver grey to black patches begining to form all over him, and now that she has mentioned that, he has started to drop a few feathers. She said as long as he doesn't loose weight, quit eating, or act unusual, that I can just keep the appointment that we made for him.

[nelly&jake]

Just an update: We went to the vet today and (proud mama) Jake got a clean bill of health! He is just molting and we had his beak groomed and his nails groomed. I have never seen a dremmel used like that before, but the results were awsome and Jake didn't mind a bit, in fact he was very pleased with himself afterwards. His vet was happy with is feathers, she was looking for stress bands on his feathers and couldn't find any! She drew one on so we would know what it looked like. She said that he will be beautiful when the new feathers come in and was happy with his behavior. He was such a good boy for her, he even said a few words! He is a huge show off! The only thing that she mentioned that we could do was to fatten him up a bit, so he'll be getting a bit more goodies (healthy ones) from now on! Happy Day!

[Chariclo]

Great news! Glad to hear everything was okay. Sounds like Jake was a little charmer! And how lucky for him he gets lots more treats now! If you don't have one already - you might want to pick up a scale so you know yourself what his weight is, and when he's had enough treats.:)

Maia (avatar) came to me with a lot of feather bands - and a year later she has the most vibrant perfect blue feathers coming in. I was just thinking - Wouldn't it be nice if nobody knew what feather bands looked like?

Good parronting!

[nelly&jake]

Thanks! My vet mentioned that she likes to feel the keel of a bird to see if the bird is plump enough. She showed me what to feel for and then told us that if we didn't feel like he was showing improvement, to bring him back in. I really liked her, she made sense and was very down to earth about owning a bird. She herself has a blue fronted amazon. Your baby is very cute, too! I love the orange feathers!

[guanohappens]

My BCC had black spots on her head and neck (there's a clue there!) when she was a baby. The breeder, who we visit often for "play dates" at the shop, was concerned that they were stress bars. I showed them to a parrot expert and she proclaimed them as oil damage from handling. It was summertime, and this person said she often sees such damage as people pet their birds with salty, sweaty, oily hands (that would be my little sons, of course--not me!)

Stress bars, in contrast, are lines across the feather. These were small patches, and the placement was significant--where the feathers were in contact with skin oils from the human.

Aren't BCCs the best parrots? I have four permanent parrots and my BCC is my "mostly companion" (quoting Eloise, from Kay Thompson's book "Eloise"). Tani Robar, famous parrot trick-trainer, has called her BCC, Squawk, her "most intelligent bird"--even more intelligent than Cassie, her caique that won first place on "Pet Star"!