Molting

[Cooks]

Have done some reading but still not sure,

When do cockatiels molt for the first time?
What time of year do the molt? and how many times a year?
I have seen feathers at the bottem of Cooks cage the small "body" kind and the tail feathers. But also just tail feathers(please give me the correct termsand names for the feathers)

 

[LaManuka]

Young cockatiels generally moult into their adult plumage at around 6 months of age. They do lose feathers all year round but my boy Fang just had a major moult about a month to 6 weeks ago and I swear he lost so many feathers I could’ve used them to build another bird! He still looks a bit ratty around the edges. Moulting time may be a good opportunity for you to get a little closer with your bird and help him remove the sheaths that stick to the new feathers around his head where he can’t preen for himself. Be very gentle though cos there may be lots of pin feathers in there that are highly sensitive.

Cockatiels will generally moult every 6 months or so and you will also see a lot more than the usual amount of feather dust flying when they preen themselves. They can be a bit moody too - depending on the individual they may look to you for help with preening around the head in particular, or they may prefer to keep to themselves for the duration. It takes a LOT of energy to grow all those new feathers so you’ll need to keep up good quality nutrition, and they may nap more than normal. A gentle misting with fresh water if the weather is warm enough helps enormously too. Use fresh water each time, don’t leave it in the bottle in between times. Also you don’t want to point the nozzle directly at the bird, rather aim it upwards so the water falls like a natural shower of rain. My boy Fang loves a good shower and will contort himself into all sorts of bizarre positions to try and get water falling on each and every feather!

 

[Cooks]

Thanks for that i almost had a small panic, but i did the math and it has been six months. I also read that pearl cockatiels will become darker with age and loose the pearls if they are male (am i right?). Cooks has not change in pattern or colour sins i got her (now i dont feel bad for calling her cookie some times).

She does not like the spray bottle, poor baby looks at me like i am trying to drown her, but she will take a bath if i use the hose pipe with the fixture on the mist setting. She loves it to feel like rain. This summer has been very hot can she over bath?

 

[EllenD]

When Cockatiels go through their very first molt, which happens between 6 months to a year old, the males typically lose the striping/spotted patterns on the underside of their tail feathers, while the females keep them (depends on mutation, but in-general you can use that rule)...So if Cooks no longer has the white stripes/pattern on the underside of the tailfeathers, then Cooks is most-likely a male; if the white stripes/patterns are still present on the underside of the tailfeathers, then Cooks is a female. This can only be used to sex them if they are a year-old or older, but I believe Cooks is older than a year, so this will apply.

 

[Cooks]

Cooks has grey lines on yellow small feathers just under the long tail feathers, the long fearhers have grey following the line of her tail and one half (length wise)white/light yellow andvthe other half just yellow

 

[EllenD]

I'd have to see it to be able to tell you...If you take a photo of the underside of Cooks tailfeathers we can tell you for sure...

 

[Cooks]

I got a pic but let me know if you need a better one,

 

[LaManuka]

It’s the underside of the tail that’s the giveaway. If she has moulted into her adult plumage (which she would have done within the first year) and has stippling/ripple like marks on the underside, however faint it may be, then she’s a she. If it’s solid colour on the underside then she’s a he

 

[Cooks]

@LaManuka i attached a pic of the tail, above please have a look and tel me, because now i dont know anymore

 

[LaManuka]

Is that the underside in the photo? My lutino Twinkle was all white and I could only ever see her markings when I held her and could get a real close look. Or when she moulted a tail feather and I held it up to the sunlight but she had a very faint yellow rippling against the white. The colour in that shot does look fairly solid but it’s hard to be 100% sure from here.

 

[Cooks]

Yes it is. Cooks started moulting yesterday should be able to get a tail feather tomorrow if it is sunny will get a natural light picture from a better camera

 

[LaManuka]

Either way young Cooks is a beautiful birdie, congratulations!

 

[Cooks]

Thank you, You think cooks might still be young? I really dont know much about cooks and she/he has not changed sins i found him

 

[LaManuka]

Cooks’ plumage and appearance really shouldn’t change much now that she is around 3-ish (and I’ll stick with she just for now) It’s great that she enjoys a misting of water whichever way it comes. She will let you know when she’s not in the mood, I’d say you’d have noticed that already

 

[EllenD]

I'm quite sure that Cooks is a male. He is a common pearl Cockatiel, and is over a year old, so just by looking at her tail feathers there is no doubt that he's a male. I wish I was at home right now, I'd take a photo of my pearl Cockatiel who is a female. It's quite obvious when they are females, and Cooks definitely shed all of his young plumage and grew-in adult male plumage.