Should I be concerned on feather state?

[Hopefulworld]

Hi again!

So my conure, named Charlie, is very loving with a big personality. We socialize with him hours every day, play, have routines (like showers in the morning) and overall the whole household loves him.

While doing research I came across something that mentioned black bars or lines on feathers to be bad.. except our bird has ALWAYS had them.

Should I be concerned? He doesn't pluck, loves grooming break grinding properly, cuddling.. nothing in his behavior suggests anything concerning to my knowledge.

Thankyou for the help!

 

[Owlet]

The feathers are rugged and cut short, I imagine he may be overpreening/barbering possibly. What's his diet like?
Also do you happen to have a picture of his wings outstretched? His longest flight feathers dont look clipped but they do look very short so I'm curious about that

 

[Shoegoo]

They appear to be chopped. Has someone been helping with his grooming. Like maybe a member of the family whose not familiar with how to trim feathers?

 

[charmedbyekkie]

Stress bars look very different. If you hold a feather with a stress bar up to a light, the light will stream through stronger where the stress bar is.

Those black marks are from wear and tear or other types of damage, such as overpreening/barbering as Owlet mentioned. Black stains on feathers often come from not just contact damage (brushing up against cage bars), but also oil stains (from being petted too much by humans). (Tbh, I would not be surprised to see such feathers on a baby before their first molt since they are still learning how to navigate, but by your profile, he is mature already.)


He does, from a closed wing view, look like he might have been overclipped, though. I agree with Owlet - a pic of open wings would be good. If his wings were clipped too severely, he could hurt himself (broken keel bone, split skin, etc).

 

[bug_n_flock]

Hmm, hard to tell from photos, but his head feathers seem less damaged. Does he have lots to do and shred when left to himself?



My second guess would be nutritional, but I think he is probably nibbling on his feathers.

 

[Hopefulworld]

Thank you! No one clips his greens feathers. HE does shred paper during the day but has lots of toys. The blue feather is not his flight feather.

Here is a picture of his wing.. thankyou again!

 

[Hopefulworld]

Here are the wings.