Primary coverts missing

[Savvylee07]

So, I have had Jasper a year and four months now. He is a year and 8 months old. When he spreads his wings the primary coverts look like they are cut off and the primary shafts are visible. I myself cut the first 6 primaries when they grow out, otherwise he will take off flying. I didn't cut his coverts though. The coverts are a mystery to me because those have been cut ever since I got him. Shouldn't they have molted and grown back by now? I don't understand why anyone cut them. It's a perfect straight line of cutting.

 

[Kiwibird]

It can take a surprisingly long time for feathers to molt out and regrow. You couldn't normally tell if a feather was a month old or a year old, but because the clipped feathers are noticeable when they molt out and regrow, it's just more apparent (if that make sense). If he was a baby when you got him, it is pretty standard for breeders to clip them before delivering them because many people find it easier to train a clipped bird. The breeder may have had an unusual method of clipping too.

Kiwi's wings sometimes only grow back 2 or 3 flight feathers together some years, other years, he will be almost fully flighted again in 6 months, and other times, only one wing will grow back almost all the flight feathers. Their bodies have their own cycles we don't necessarily understand.

 

[Savvylee07]

Oh, I see. Well, his primaries molt and come back so quickly so that's why I was confused about his coverts not molting. He has lost all of his tail feathers twice now over a period of time since I got him. His primaries have had to be clipped twice because they are molting and coming back in so quickly. His secondaries are even molting about every six months. Is it common for the coverts to take so long to molt?

 

[Kiwibird]

I don't really keep any kind of consistent track of Kiwi's molting patterns to be honest. Parrots usually go through a major molt each year where the loose lots of feathers in a short period of time, and they loose a stray feather here and there year-round. I would imagine important feathers like tail and flight would regenerate faster than the lesser ones because in nature they are so essential to the parrots survival. Less important feathers probably do grow in slower. It might be a good question for your AV.

I know it took the better part of 2 years for most of Kiwi's flight feathers to grow back when we let them grow in. We tried teaching him to fly at one point, but it didn't happen. We keep him clipped for safety since he could seriously injure himself if he ever got spooked and got lift under his wings. We hold his feet and let him flap his wings as we 'run' around the room a couple times a day to keep him strong (he loves that) so I do see when he gets new flight feathers. When I notice more than 2 or 3 flight feathers have grown in, we'll clip them back off. He usually gets clipped once or twice a year.

 

[Savvylee07]

I run with Jasper as well to let him get exercise. He also likes to hang on to the hood of my hoodie and flap his wings behind me so he feels like he is flying. He flew into the wall once and injured his beak so we make sure he's clipped to prevent accidents like that. I'm curious, what is Kiwis breed?

 

[Kiwibird]

That's excellent that you "flap" Jasper around too ! It's really unhealthy for them to have their wing and chest muscles atrophy due to not being flighted, plus it's fun for them and good exercise. All you ever hear of people who are either 100% against ever clipping their bird, or who have a clipped bird but never exercise the poor baby Kiwi was 10 when we adopted him and had never learned to fly. We tried 3 different methods to try and get him "airborne", but he was scared crapless or plain refused and the whole thing was more traumatizing for him then being clipped (which was all he's ever known anyways). We still flap his butt around on our hands, which is not as frightening for him.

Kiwi is a blue front amazon, but the new world parrots (or at lest the common pet ones) are all quite similar in many ways.