Bald spot

[Keatz]

I was upset yesterday when I noticed a grey spot on the tummy of Oscar, my two and a half year old eclectus parrot. It just suddenly appeared overnight. He's been molting since September, but I couldn't find any green body feathers on the floor. All I found was a lot of grey down feathers and some small wing feathers. Since he over preens his feathers, I concluded that he must have over preened his feathers and thinned them out, but again, I couldn't even find any chewed feathers.
This morning, I was even more devastated to discover that the grey down feathers on the spot were missing and now he just has naked skin there. There are a lot of grey down feathers on the floor, but they don't look like they've been pulled out.
Does anyone know what might be happening? I really don't know whether it's molting or feather destructive behaviour. I've read that eclectus can molt to their skin and seen pictures of eclectus with naked spots, but I thought he had finished molting his body feathers. They seemed so thick before Christmas.

UPDATE: I saw the naked skin after I showered him this morning. Now that he's dry, there are grey down feathers in the spot. But I still am not sure why he's missing green feathers in this spot when, as I intimated, I can't find any signs of feather plucking or molting.

 

[SailBoat]

I was upset yesterday when I noticed a grey spot on the tummy of Oscar, my two and a half year old eclectus parrot. It just suddenly appeared overnight. He's been molting since September, but I couldn't find any green body feathers on the floor. All I found was a lot of grey down feathers and some small wing feathers. Since he over preens his feathers, I concluded that he must have over preened his feathers and thinned them out, but again, I couldn't even find any chewed feathers.
This morning, I was even more devastated to discover that the grey down feathers on the spot were missing and now he just has naked skin there. There are a lot of grey down feathers on the floor, but they don't look like they've been pulled out.
Does anyone know what might be happening? I really don't know whether it's molting or feather destructive behaviour. I've read that eclectus can molt to their skin and seen pictures of eclectus with naked spots, but I thought he had finished molting his body feathers. They seemed so thick before Christmas.

UPDATE: I saw the naked skin after I showered him this morning. Now that he's dry, there are grey down feathers in the spot. But I still am not sure why he's missing green feathers in this spot when, as I intimated, I can't find any signs of feather plucking or molting.

From the time of year stand point you are headed into your Fall, still early but that is the next Season. Normally, Parrots will have two major molds of downy feathers commonly at the transitions between the Season which is about six weeks away.

Over preening can be driven by many things starting with Seasonal Changes. It can also be effected by irritation caused by a diet that is lacking in specific minerals, etc... Dry skin is yet another possible driver, this also is ties to diet. But can also be effected by lower humidity levels and the lack of bathing. That all said, one of the biggest drivers is just being bored! The causes here are also several, all the way from not enough toys or correct type of toy to the Parrot not being active enough during the day.

Start will a review of his diet and activity level and work from there.

 

[Anansi]

Before you'd mentioned that he was wet when you noticed the bald spot, I was leaning heavily toward this being a feather plucking issue. But soaked birds show a whole lot of skin, so without a pic I'd be hard pressed to say.

Heavy molts can occasionally leave some down showing. Not often, though. And Mojo molts can definitely leave patches of down showing. But given the history you've mentioned of your guy's over-preening, feather destruction is a likely possibility for what's going on.

As Steven suggested, you should review his diet and activity. And just observe him in general. If it's more than just a molt, close observation should reveal the truth of it soon. If it turns out that he is in fact plucking, I'd suggest that you take him to an avian vet just to rule out any medical causes.

 

[Keatz]

Thanks for your help. I went to a bird vet last year about him chewing his tail and wing feathers. She said he was healthy and recommended giving him more plants and limbs to play with. She said that the majority of feather pluckers she's treated stopped plucking once plants were put in their cages. It doesn't seem to have helped with Oscar.
I've tried everything to stop him from over-preening. I even went over his diet with the vet and she seemed happy with it. During the day, I place him in a large aviary outside. He can fly around in it. It's full of ladders and swings, preening toys, branches and other toys. In the evenings he comes inside, and he sleeps on a parrot stand in the living area. He gets lots of attention.
I am concerned about his scratching because he's so vicious when he does it. He's also over jealous when he preens, biting his feathers too hard.
I do live in an area of low humidity, and I also noticed in the past that he seems to over preen and scratch more at certain times of the year.
When I first got him, he slowly chewed off his tail. After he grew his second tail, he did the same thing. Now that he's got his third tail, he seems to have left it alone. I was hoping he had grown out of his over preening. But I think that's why he's got grey patches on his body. He also had a grey patch around his neck which had almost filled in before Christmas but then it started to open up again. When I looked closely at the feathers on his neck, some looked like they had been thinned and others appeared to have their ends missing.
In the past when I've found barbered tail feathers, they've always been in the aviary. He only did it when he was alone. I'd come home and discover a barbered feather on the ground. I wonder whether he doesn't like being alone during the day. He loves being around people and he cries out for attention. When he's inside, he just wants to follow me around the house.
Nonetheless, I feel bad because I've addressed the issues you raised and I've tried my hardest to give him the best living conditions and yet he still over preens.