What Is Happening To Kobe's Primaries?

Roz

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Regular Member
What do you think is happening to Kobe's primary feathers? I've collected these from a few moults (they aren't from just one moult). The first two primaries on each wing seem to always have a chunk taken out of them. I was wondering if he was hitting them maybe on take off or landing... or is he snipping? It's just so weird.

7tdd67B.jpg
 
Those are interesting.
They look like fret bars that have eventually given way causing the specific segments
 
Somewhere on this site I did a post on different feathers I had managed to lay my hands on to show people different feathers with different issues to them …. did it when I had the purestparrot website years ago ….. will tag it so you can see some other feathers that had stress bars which are similar but go across the feather rather than down the feather like a fret bar
 
there are a few possible answers It possible that l they may of been chewed after they have fallen or your bird damaged them whilst flapping. another bird has chewed or damaged them. or it was Kobe who damaged them. I have to rule out damage as it is only the darker side of the feathers that show damage and not the outer edge that is the green part. its unlikely that another bird has done the damage for the same reason. I can rule out damage after they had fallen as the damage is in the same kind of area and not random chewed so the only way the damage has been done is through over preening by Kobe, it may look quite even in position of damage and that would be because its the area easiest to reach.
 
photo15.jpg

This is a photo of stress barring due to transient issues when the feather was growing on a blue and gold (this was a chick that occasionally got chilled or had to wait for his food) but these go across rather than downwards
If you look at the feather in the following picture in the top of the photo it has the structure being unsound being weakened in a line (showing white) where the feather in the end breaks off in a segment when it gets bumped etc.
photo16.jpg

http://www.melbournebirdvet.com/birds-of-a-different-feather.aspx
 
Have nosey at figure 3 Roz http://www.birdresearch.dk/unilang/faultbars/Faultbar5.pdf

Edited to add the other thing that can have a factor on fault bars is any medication there was an interesting note made about the effects of Corticosterone on feather development causing stress baring to form https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/2041-210X.12314

Your going to have to be the detective to figure out what was going on when the feathers were growing … stress could be caused by anything from moving house, building works, new decoration, new toys, a draft, new people, medication, him feeling under the weather for some reason.... etc etc etc … the list is long. To figure out if its an on going health issue such as fatty liver you would have to look at the feathers that are currently there not the moulted ones to see if they show fret or stress bars in the same places.....
 
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Hope you dont mind me adding this to the thread but Phoebe has just dropped this feather
Whats gone on there?
IMAG0584-1401x1868.jpg
 
Thank you for your replies, Dizzy and Michael. I will look more carefully at the new feathers that have just come in to see if there are any fault bars or anything else wrong with them. They are definitely harmed when they are still attached to him (nobirdie else does it)... you can hear it when he flies. He's got one feather like that at the moment - the other side is whole.... for now. I will see if I can look at the "healthy" feathers more closely for fault bars. He's always been a fairly anxious bird at times... outdoor birds worry him, Bobbie worries him. No other feathers are harmed. I appreciate all the links too. Will read them tonight as I am rushing out the door very soon. xx
 
@Heather2131 that feather is 50 / 50 is it a tail feather? If it is then it's scrubbed when out and about walking on things and the trail tips are dragging on top of something.
Roz's feathers were right and left wing (top feathers left wing bottom right wing).
 
Really interesting about the fault lines. I've been looking back over my collection of Kobe feathers. They seem to be weak in that area right from 7+ years ago. Here is a pic of 7+ year old feathers:

FlXMrWT.jpg
 
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