Surprisingly dusty!

[RavensGryf]

We all hear that Cockatoos, Cockatiels, and Greys are THE dustiest parrot species. We hold these species against our dark clothing and think yep, it's true as we brush the powder off lol .

I've never even thought of 'other' species as being dusty... UNTIL we moved last year, and now the birds are in a large bedroom. A room, which is of course smaller square footage than a living room, and with black and dark furniture....

For MONTHS I was baffled about WHERE the fine powder all over everything was coming from. Afterall, I have 2 Poicephalus, a Pionus, and a Budgie. AND I have an air purifier as well.

THEN... I SAW IT HAPPEN! Raven my Bronze Winged Pionus was sitting on his stand in front of the window, and in just the right lighting, I saw him shake his feathers off and I saw a surprisingly sizable cloud of fine powdered dust come off of him! I wish I could have caught a picture at that very moment. I'm not talking about the dander and feather sheath particles that we all see, I mean a FINE DUST LIKE A POWDER. The same stuff I was seeing all over everything in the room. After dusting the furniture, it is literally back to a noticeable amount by the next day.

As Laura (labell) also brought to light in a thread about her Amazons, I was starting to find out that some other species can have a significant amount of feather dust as well. My avian vet also told me that the African Poicephaus parrots, of which I have 2, are also dusty species.

I started to think that maybe because my birds are not 'green' and from the rain forests, the environment the species are from might have something to do with it? But then Amazons (and now some people say Macaws) which are rainforest species are dusty to a degree as well.

Have any of you ever noticed a "powder-like" dust from any of your birds who AREN'T Toos, tiels, or Greys? (Though obviously not as much as these species). Again, I don't mean dander, I'm talking about fine powder-like substance.

** Yes, they do get baths where they get wet enough, still the dust is back by the next day.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Yes, Julie, I have noticed this dust, too in both my Amazons and Macaws. Like you said, depending how the light 'hits' them, and they do their fluffers, you can see it as clear as day. :32:

And dark furniture doesn't help one bit! Nor do glass end tables fairly close to the cages. :54:

 

[Birdman666]

Daily mistings, weekly soakings, and away goes powder down the drain...

Plus they're goofy when wet!

 

[labell]

If I go more than a day between giving Brady a bath I can smell that she is dusty (not the amazon musk smell we all love). I know it sounds weird but I have a very strong sense of smell. If it wouldn't kill me I could be hired out as a human "mold detector". No kidding when we were looking at houses my realtor at first was looking at me like I was crazy because we would first walk in and I would say this house has water damage or mold issues. Then sure enough we would get into a bathroom or basement or attic and there would be actual evidence. After a few times, if I said it she would just be confident in my sense of smell and would say, "okay take this one off the list" and we would leave.

 

[RavensGryf]

Daily mistings, weekly soakings, and away goes powder down the drain...

Plus they're goofy when wet!

As I said, they get baths all the time... even though they hate it!! The dust IS BACK the very next day .

It's not noticeable until your circumstances dictate that the birds must reside in a single ROOM. Then it becomes very noticeable, where it never was noticed before when they lived in a more open space.

 

[thekarens]

I don't notice it with the mac or sennies, but I did when we had the budgies and I do with the linnies. However, not a one of them can ever vaguely compare to my standard poodle. I swear she goes outside and comes back in covered in a layer of dust and dirt.

 

[Kiwibird]

Yup, Kiwi is musty and dusty! Puts off pickers like crazy too:31: Why are parrots so darn cute again lol? If I'm wearing black and have Kiwi near me/clean his cage, I can totally see his dander.And ever since I got that nice vacuum I've gone OCD about vacuuming constantly, and I suspect he plays a large part in the dust that accumulates within minutes after having everything spotless:52:

 

[labell]

I don't notice it with the mac or sennies, but I did when we had the budgies and I do with the linnies. However, not a one of them can ever vaguely compare to my standard poodle. I swear she goes outside and comes back in covered in a layer of dust and dirt.

I must have one of those uppity standard poodles, he doesn't dig or really get dirty in the summer, he just does his stuff and wants back in. Now winter is a whole nother story he runs around in the snow like a mad-man even when it is deep then he comes in looking like a Yeti and leaves puddles of melted snow around him!

 

[Allee]

I've noticed it with the quakers, I've seen both of them fluff in the right light and shake dust into the air. I also see a very fine layer of dust on their cages. Nothing like the Too or the tiel, but definitely noticeable. They get frequent baths and showers too.

 

[thekarens]

I don't notice it with the mac or sennies, but I did when we had the budgies and I do with the linnies. However, not a one of them can ever vaguely compare to my standard poodle. I swear she goes outside and comes back in covered in a layer of dust and dirt.

I must have one of those uppity standard poodles, he doesn't dig or really get dirty in the summer, he just does his stuff and wants back in. Now winter is a whole nother story he runs around in the snow like a mad-man even when it is deep then he comes in looking like a Yeti and leaves puddles of melted snow around him!

Maddie will find every puddle, every pile of dirt and if there isn't one she will make one. She has no idea what snow is like since she's a Texas girl.

 

[noblemacaw]

Over the years I have had cockatiels, parakeets, 2 mini macaws, Eclectus and a Red Fronted Macaw.

I have very bad asthma so some species do aggravate my asthma. Before I knew better I use to "shampoo" my cockatiel once a week and have him in the shower with me every day. He was very dusty even though he got wet every day.

I never really noticed any real dust problems with my Noble or Illiger's macaws and my Eclectus all lived in the same area. My Ex's budgies had to be put in the spare bedroom because they caused me to have asthma attacks. Even with the budgies being gone over a year from the house the spare bedroom causes my chest to be a little bit tight.

Valentino has the most unique feathers I have ever felt. They are very soft with extremely soft down. When Valentino is molting there are feathers and down EVERYWHERE. I cannot keep up with sucking up the feathers/down during the height of the molt. When we are relaxing I tend to work on his feather sheaths cracking those things open with little bits falling onto the bonding blanket. I don't know what it is about RFM feathers but they are not like any bird feathers I have felt before. I believe because they come from high in cliffs in a desert area of the world they must have extra down to keep them warm (its gotta be cold up there in those cliffs) and because of having to fly in and out of the nest "hole" this is why I believe they fly very differently also with the ability to hover, fly sideways, backwards and when they chose too fly erratically when going from point A straight to point B. Valentino's ability to fly is beautiful to watch.

He also likes to lay on my face when we are relaxing and I'm watching TV with his chest pressed up on my face. I have had to watch many of my programs with one eye. He has never caused my asthma to flair or me to sneeze uncontrollably. I can live with the RFM and no matter what the pulmonary specialist says I will never give up my boy because he is a parrot.

 

[labell]

I can live with the RFM and no matter what the pulmonary specialist says I will never give up my boy because he is a parrot.

That is a bold statement and one that can change unfortunately, when you are faced with constant hospitalization, on oxygen and the threat of intubation so that you can get enough air to live, believe me I know.

 

[noblemacaw]

I use to have to go to the ER every 6 weeks for severe asthma problems. Had to take predisone all the time. It was AWFUL. I have been on oxygen and I have almost died twice. The specialist wanted me to rehome all my pets. I use to have one cat (ragdoll long hair) one dog and two parrots. At one time I had three parrots but no mammals. I resisted for years refusing to rehome my parrots because I could not do it. I think because I only have one parrot he does not cause any issues with me. I lost 70 pounds and now have my asthma under so much better control than I ever had in the past 10 years. I am fortunate for my change in health condition and value that I can breath mostly without issues. I worked very hard to get where I am today with my health issues.

I have a life again. I can now return to work (got a job out of state in my field) when I have not worked full time since 2010. I know I am fortunate and I hope to pass on some of my life changes for the better to you. I hope only the best for you so that you NEVER have to part with your parrot family. I pray and hope that this also will hold true for me.

 

[RavensGryf]

Well it looks like I must have 4 of the "second" most dusty parrot species !

Rebecca, that is interesting about the RFM feathers being different from other macaw feathers. I guess climate and environmental particulars of where they live, dictate "how" the feathers are on different parrot species. Also the RFM flight patterns that I've also heard about. Again, adaptive to their natural environment.

I've noticed that many "rainforest species" have a slightly harder feel to the feathers. Don't get me wrong, all parrots are basically soft to touch, but curiously I've noticed that rainforest species tend to have a little different texture than non-rainforest parrot species. Strange thing to notice I know.

The 2 Poicephalus I have are "GRAY backed" ones, my Red Bellied and Ruppell's (Meyer's also) are EXTREMELY SOFT and I've never felt a softer parrot except MAYBE a Rose Breasted Too. Interestingly... the GREEN backed Poicephalus (Senegal, Brown Headed, Jardine's, Cape) while soft, are not AS soft as the predominantly gray colored Poi's. Trust me, I've felt a lot of Poi's !
I'm thinking that their color has to do with their natural environment, the gray ones being more African plains birds rather than in more lush green trees. Maybe with more rainfall, the green birds need a stiffer feather to repel more frequent rains? Idk, Who knows lol, just a thought since I did notice a texture difference between rainforest species and non-rainforest species.
Same thing noticed with my Bronze Winged Pionus, African Greys, Cockatoos, Cockatoos, Vasas, to name others who are not tropical birds and are some of the softest parrots.

 

[RainbowRose]

I notice some dust with my senegal as well! Lol