Feather Picking in Birds

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Feather picking is one of the most frustrating and disconcerting conditions of caged birds. When a bird begins to pick at, pull out or mutilate its feathers, its physical appearance and overall attractiveness are greatly diminished, causing great consternation for the bird's owner. Some of the bird owner's frustration results from the lack of understanding of what motivates the bird to behave in this destructive manner and what can be done to stop the behavior.

Feathers have a variety of functions: flight, temperature regulation, protection against environmental and climatic extremes, and courtship display (colorful feathers, selective erection of certain feathers etc.). Without feathers, wild birds will not survive. Therefore, careful and regular attention of their condition is vital.

Preening is the process by which a bird grooms itself. It will use its beak to condition and waterproof its feathers and meticulously remove the sheaths through which all new contour and flight feathers emerge. Birds use their feet and claws to perform this latter function on contour feathers located on the head.

It is common for birds to rub against various objets in their immediate environment to perform this function. Mutual preening is common among cage mates. Normal preening behavior must be distinguished from feather picking and feather mutilation.

Feather picking is an obsessive, destructive behavior pattern of birds during which all or part of their feathers are methodically pulled out, amputated, frayed, or in some other way damaged. This behavior often prevents normal feather growth and emergence. Molting is the normal physiologic process by which old, worn feathers are lost and subsequently replaced by new ones. The frequency of this event varies with the species and the individual, as well as the climatic and geographic factors. In warm areas, most caged birds drop a small number of feathers intermittently throughout the year and have 1-2 heavy molts a year.

Birds that are picking their feathers look very much the same, exposed bare skin below the neck, the head feathers are spared, except in those birds whose feathers are being picked by a cage mate (sometimes mutual preening can become excessive!).

The major medical causes of feather picking include changes in hormonal levels, external and internal parasites, malnutrition, internal disease, and bacterial and fungal infections of the skin. External parasites are extremely rare in cage birds.

The most important non-medical causes are psychological and stress related. Feather picking is generally a problem of birds in captivity, in the wilderness birds are too preoccupied with their own survival and reproduction. The stress endured by birds in captivity is not experienced by their wild counterpart. Captivity, malnutrition, solitary living, absence of a mate with which to fulfill courtship rituals and mating needs may cause significant stress. Other stresses within the home include noise, confusion, and the presence of other pets such as dogs or cats (which represent potential predators to a caged bird). Changes in their environment or in their established routine can create stress for the bird. This stress often results in obsessive introverted behavior, manifested by feather picking. Birds learn the proper preening from their parents. Some hand raised birds fail to learn this normal behavior and turn to this obsessive, excessive behavior that tends to be patterned and ritualized. The groups of birds most notorious for engaging in this vice include African gray and Timneh parrot, cockatoos, macaws, conures, gray cheeked parakeets, and cockatiels. Interestingly, we rarely see feather picking in budgies or Amazon parrots.

Birds like Amazon parrots and occasionally African Gray parrot and macaws can suffer from self-mutilation Syndrome. Again, it is not known if it is their way to cope with stress or it is caused by an infectious disease, possibly of viral origin. They will mutilate their skin (toes, wing webs, groin and armpit areas). This constant and continual trauma causes infection and failure of the wounded areas to heal properly. Birds engaged in this pattern should be wearing a collar or bandages to prevent further damage. They also must be treated aggressively with systemic antibiotics (injections are preferable).

There are not quick solutions for this psychological or stress-induced feather picking. Collars made of discarded X-ray film or certain acrylics can be fitted and applied creating an artificial barrier between the bird's beak and its feathers, but it does not prevent the cause of the behavior. Sometimes a collar can add some more stress to the bird and prevent normal feather maintenance, so they are used as a last resort when everything else fails.

If medical causes for feather picking have been ruled out, and boredom (solitary confinement) is regarded as the major cause, the owner should make some changes:

increase the amount of time spent with the bird.

changing the location of the bird's cage and/or perch sometime can be helpful (knowing the personality of your bird with help). Give more privacy to the ones that are shy or more social interaction for those who enjoy it.

more space, a larger cage or a more spacious living environment will help.

more rest, covering their cage at night or moving it to a quiet and secluded area will provide privacy and quiet resting time.

bathing or misting a feather picker daily or on a regular basis may be beneficial because wetting the feathers encourages normal preening behavior. The hope is that the bird spends more time conditioning the plumage and less time chewing on feathers or pulling them out.

increase the variety of food, especially using those that require some time and effort to eat like non-shelled walnuts and other nuts, string beans, macaroni and cheese, and snow peas.

more variety in color, shape, texture and size of food. Re-creating feedings will keep the bird stimulated and interested in the food, increase the amount of time required to eat, which will decrease the free time that the bird could spend feather picking.

provide toys to play, the widest variety and assortment should be provided. Toys should stimulate and hold the bird's interest as much as possible.

provide natural objects that a bird can investigate, chew up and rip apart. Branches from non toxic trees, with leaves (eucalyptus) and large pine cones can satisfy their destructive tendencies (provide clean and free of insecticide and herbicide residues).

provide physical exercise, large ropes to climb on, large paper bags and cardboard boxes with holes to play and hide.

stimulate the bird's other senses by playing music, television or playing a recorded voice interaction. The more attention we divert to other activities, the less time the bird will spend feather picking.

Much feather picking of caged birds results from sexual isolation and frustration. Even though birds do not have external sexual organs, they have gonads (testes or a single ovary) located abdominally, therefore these organs produce hormones (testosterone on the male, estrogen in the female). These hormones are extremely potent and can change a bird's behavior. In the wild these changes would result in the selection of a mate and courtship mating behaviors. Unfortunately at home, the solitary pet bird rarely engages in these kinds of behavior. Frustration can result in feather picking. Some investigators believe that hormonal influenced (sexual) feather picking is the bird's attempt to create a "brood patch." This completely featherless area of the breast allows very efficient transfer of heat from the bird's body to the eggs it is incubating. In captivity and non breeding situations, feather picking and pulling are non productive and become an obsessive vice, even when the hormonal levels are back to normal. In this case, birds treated with progesterone can exhibit a favorable response. Providing a mate is obvious but not always practical. Reducing sexual stimulation will help to reduce hormonal changes. Avoid mirrors and masturbatory toys, place birds of opposite sex out of sound range from each other.

One suggestion to consider seriously is not clipping the wings of a bird. This mutilates their feathers, especially the flight feathers and may suggest to the bird that being destructive to the feathers is okay. When the procedure of trimming the longest and largest feathers is performed, the bird will discover these altered feathers and begin to methodically and obsessively chew and split the part of the quill that remains after the feathers are clipped. The result of this mutilation is a series of frayed feathers quills that rarely drop out during the next molt and tend to be retained indefinitely.

Some cases of severe chronic feather picking may not respond to any kind

of treatment. Damage to or destruction of the feather follicles from repeated trauma to the skin may result in permanent feather loss or growth of abnormal feathers. These pets birds tend also to be unmanageable and very difficult to handle. Placing these birds in a breeding or avicultural situation may be the most practical alternative. Unfortunately this is not an easy decision for the owner.