Ask Lafeber

Molting or plucking?

I have a male cockatiel, around 8 months old and he has already molted some of his wing and tail feathers but lately I’ve been seeing how he is losing lots of feathers from the chest area.
Sometimes when he preens, I see him with fallen chest feather in his beak but I can’t figure out whether he’s plucking or just molting normally

Hi Rik,

It’s probably his natural first adult molt. Unless he has areas of bare skin, or large areas of just grey/white down, he isn’t plucking.

Thank you for asking Lafeber,

Brenda