molting for macaws

[amycrittendon1981]

I'm a new owner to a Scarlett Macaw. I noticed that her chest feathers are looking scraggly. She grooms alot is this normal? Or is she molting?

 

[Bird_Mom_to_Coby_the_GW]

Welcome to the forum. When I first got my Coby he would groom his chest feathers alot and they looked kind of ratty. I think with him it was a nervous habit. As time went by and we began to bond he stopped doing it. If you don't notice alot of pinning then it probably isn't from molting. It's possible that your scarlet is doing it for the same reasons that my Coby did. If so, once your scarlet settles into your household and begins to bond with you she will probably cease to do it. Congratulations on your new addition.

 

[Featheredsamurai]

There are other reasons that birds over preen. In a parrot book I read the lady wore lotion all the time, then would go to pet her bird. Although we don't notice it a tiny bit of lotion was getting on her bid and it was constantly preening because the feathers weren't getting clean.