Ask Lafeber

My Cockatiel lost all his flight feathers

One of my cockatiels, Pancho, has lost his flight feathers more than once. Every time they seem to grow back, he loses them again and I’ve never seen it happen as it’s happening, so I don’t know why. None of my other three cockatiels have this problem, their feathers grow in fine. Today I found all his flight feathers on the floor, completely frayed at the ends, the hollow part of the feather at the bottoms are completely split open. He doesn’t seem unhappy and his behavior never changes, but it is odd. If it keeps happening he’ll never fly at this rate.

Hi Nat,

It sounds like he is pulling out his feathers. He is definitely chewing on them based on what you described. Does he share the cage with the other cockatiels? Possibly one is bullying him. Do you use a nightlight? Cockatiels have the tendency to have night frights, where they thrash around in the dark, often losing wing and tail feathers. It is very hard to diagnose why a bird plucks his feathers. Since he is chewing on them, it could also be a nutritional deficiency. The best thing to do is take him to an avian vet.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda