Grey pulls out flight feathers

[Aquila]

So I adopted a beautiful african grey a few months ago from a very loving family. He's 18 years old now and the husband had him since before he was married. Unfortunately soon after they had their first child, the wife wanted him to get rid of the birds, so he rehomed his blue front amazon to a family member, and a year later, the grey to me after a long back and forth. It worked out since I already have a blue front and Gonzo regularly calls him "Murphy" like the previous blue front. They get along pretty well and Gonzo will climb over to his cage if I let him, though it's always supervised.

My problem is that Gonzo pulls out his flight feathers as soon as they grow in. His previous owner said that he only had them clipped once when he was a baby. Since then he never let them grow back and has pulled them out every time. I have watched him do it before I realized it was what he was doing. Most of them are just chewed down and broken halfway, others he'll just pull right out as they're growing in. None of his other feathers are damaged, they're all in great condition.

What can I do to discourage it and let them grow back? I'm trying to get him used to bathing to see if that helps, but is this a common thing? Is it OCD? Or is it just from the discomfort of them growing in?

 

[Sterling1113]

African Greys are sensitive. He may have adjusted to them being clipped (if he was clipped really young) and now "normal" feathers are large, clumsy and uncomfortable. So he clips them himself. If he's going through a molt change out his toys, fill his cage with plenty of things to keep him busy. More baths. Wet birds preen, not pluck! (Just a saying.. not stating it as fact, lol)

There's also the option that it could be medical. Maybe an infected follicle? Are his wings red, swollen, irritated, anything like that around where the flight feathers would grow in? Sometimes when a bird plucks it causes more permanent damage. If you think that could be it, I'd have a vet check him over. (Might be a good idea regardless, to rule out any medical issues.)

He sounds like he has a great home. I hope you find a solution to this problem, or at least find a way to make it more comfortable for him. Best of luck!

 

[SilverSage]

I have a gcc who does this, but she was clipped every six weeks for her whole first year of life. Recently she has started letting her flights grow in for the first time... And ripping out her tail -_-

All medical issues have been ruled out.

 

[Aquila]

He's very healthy, and it's a little more than plucking, occasionally he does rip out a blood feather, but he also "trims" his own wings. He had two fully grown flight feathers but eventually he chewed them off to where you would see them clipped. I'm looking into getting more shreddables, but he gets scared of new toys very easily.

 

[Aquila]

Here's a recent picture where you can see what he does to his flight feathers

The rest of him is perfectly fine, aside from his tail sometimes when he's been climbing around the cage.