black bits on feathers?

[Jess89]

I was wondering does anyone know what causes black spots on eccys wings?
I've heard a theory that its to do with not getting enough sunlight; but after looking at heaps of pictures on the internet I notice i havnt seen a single full adult eccy with black on their feathers; only the babies..

So.. can everyone look at their young eccys or pictures of them when they were young and tell me if they had any black colouring on their feathers?

[ThreeX]

Only two things i know cause that is finger/hand grease and what is known (over here) as "Stress feathers" you might be better off googling for it (in case noone here can provide you with the definitive answer)

[Jess89]

according to google its quite common in young eccies and should molt out by the age of 1 and a bit... lol.. possibly caused by young eccys being rough on their pin feathers :p

[hollyhawkz]

Good Day!

Here are a couple links to help you out. He was sick for a while so I would accredit it to that. Unless the feathers are malformed, I don't think there is anything to worry about in your case. He sleeps well and his diet is good.


Stress bars?

Stress bars

[Ashling]

Ashling isn't an eccy but she has similar green, and her green feathers had black markings when she was a baby that I, too, worried about. I am fairly sure it is normal in younglings.

[Abby]

Merlin is 3yo and ended up with some blackness (stressbars) awhile ago. In the end it was put down to stress from all the renovations around here and looking like hge was about to hit a moult. He just looked crappy for a month or so there. I've put up some pics in here that I took yesterday and he looks great now. Could also be that your young guy is about to go through a moult. That was another thing with Merlin on top of the stress.

[Monica]

The question is, did the feathers grow in with these black marks, or were the feathers already grown in and then the marks appeared?

There's a difference. Feathers that grow in black when they normally should not be (may be different colors in other birds, but generally it's black) are usually known as stress bars.

Feathers that were perfectly healthy and became black after being fully matured and grown out are known as "bronzing." That is, the pigment on the feather is rubbed off, and can be caused by rough handling, overpreening, rough play, etc.


Check out this article.
Feather Grooming Disorders