Dramatic feather loss in our beloved cockatiels can be a concerning sight.

It’s especially concerning when we don’t understand the cause.

Feather loss is a tricky subject with pet birds, mainly because there are so many potential reasons why it could happen.

However, being a responsible bird owner means being aware of these potential reasons.

Knowing the potential causes of a problem can help you identify the real cause.

In this article, I aim to share 5 common reasons why a cockatiel would start losing feathers.

Disclosure: In no way am I an avian vet or parrot health expert, I’m not giving any medical advice in this article. My aim is to spread awareness of the potential causes of feather loss.

Any serious concerns should be taken to your avian vet.

Quick Navigation:

• 1) Molting/Preening
• 2) Nutrient Deficiency
• 3) Stress
• 4) Feather Plucking
• 5) Illness/Sickness
• Finding Out Why Your Cockatiel Is Losing Feathers
• Sources

1) Molting/Preening

One of the most common reasons why a healthy cockatiel would lose feathers is molting.

Molting is when the feathers of a bird fall out and are replaced by new ones.

Heavy molting periods are when cockatiels molt lots of feathers at once, which happens about twice a year.

While they’re preening, cockatiels may drop a feather or two, even outside of heavy molting periods.

This is completely normal molting behavior.

During heavy molts, a cockatiel might lose about 10 feathers a day.

Read more about molting in cockatiels here…

2) Nutrient Deficiency

Dietary imbalances can cause a cockatiel to become deficient in certain nutrients.

This is why it’s very important to feed a varied diet to your parrot.

Many essential nutrients are used by parrots to maintain their feather quality.

Some of the most important vitamins and minerals used for feather quality include:

• Vitamin A

• Protein (and amino acids)

• Biotin (B vitamin)

Cockatiels who don’t get the necessary amount of these nutrients will likely suffer from bad feather quality.

This could lead to the weak feathers falling out when they’re not supposed to.

Also, cockatiels who don’t get enough vitamin A, calcium, and protein will not be able to grow new feathers during a molt.

The feathers will fall, and the cockatiel won’t have the bodily resources needed to grow new ones.

To ensure your cockatiel is not lacking essential nutrients, you must feed a large variety of fresh vegetables.

This is on top of their overall diet which consists of pellets and seeds.

Read the full cockatiel diet plan here…

3) Stress

Stress can cause a cockatiel to start losing feathers in a number of ways.

Most of these ways are related to the other reasons on this list.

Firstly, a cockatiel will feather pluck when stressed.

Being in a constant state of stress can also make the feathers look scruffy and unclean as they won’t feel comfortable preening them.

Feathers that aren’t properly preened and maintained will fall out.

There are many different factors that can cause stress in parrots, some of those include:

• Environmental changes (to their cage or surroundings)

• Being in a tiny cage (VERY STRESSFUL)

• Unfamiliar objects, colors, or people

• Unwanted touching/interactions

• Being sick

Stressed cockatiels will often scream a lot, act aggressive, and generally won’t act like their usual selves.

4) Feather Plucking

Feather plucking is commonly caused by stress, loneliness, or anxiety that causes a cockatiel to self-mutilate by ripping out their own feathers.

Boredom, nutrient deficiencies, and lack of exercise can also cause feather plucking.

It’s a very disturbing behavior that is unique to pet birds.

No wild bird has ever been seen feather plucking.

Self-mutilation can cause a cockatiel to become bald in areas where they pluck the most.

Commonly plucked areas include around the neck, chest, and back areas.

An effective way of knowing if your cockatiel is plucking is by looking at where they’re losing feathers.

If it’s in those commonly plucked areas, they could be self-mutilating.

However, if a cockatiel starts losing feathers in places they can’t reach with their beak (such as the crest), they may be suffering from an illness.

5) Illness/Sickness

Sick cockatiels will show a range of symptoms indicating that they aren’t well.

• Loss of appetite

• Lack of activity

• Tail bobbing (they’re unbalanced while perching)

• Excessive daytime sleeping

• Feather loss

These are all signs indicating that your cockatiel may be sick.

Cockatiels are able to get bacterial, fungal, parasitical, and viral infections that can make them very ill.

Some illnesses will stress the bird out, causing them to pluck their feathers.

However, there are other diseases that can cause the feathers of a parrot to just fall out without being plucked.

These diseases will cause the head and crest feathers to fall out.

Sorry, this is a pretty disturbing image, but this is a sick cockatiel.

The feather loss around the head of this cockatiel was not from plucking, but likely a symptom of an illness.

It’s terrible, but it does happen.

There is no way to determine or treat the illness unless the bird is examined and tested by an avian vet.

Never attempt any medical procedures or provide any medicine unless you’ve consulted with your vet.

They’re the experts and they know what your bird needs, not google.

Finding Out Why Your Cockatiel Is Losing Feathers

To determine the cause of your cockatiel’s feather loss, you’ll need to closely observe their behavior.

Primarily, you should look for molting or stressful behavior.

If you determine that your cockatiel is just molting, you have nothing to worry about.

However, if you’ve concluded that your bird is stressed or even feather plucking, you’ll need to identify what’s stressing them out.

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Has anything dramatically changed within the household?

• Did you suddenly change their daily routine?

• Has their diet changed at all?

• Are they lonely or bored?

• Are they in a tiny cage?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, it could be the reason they’re stressing.

Your cockatiel may also be suffering from an illness.

A parrot showing any of the sickness indicators listed above should be taken to an avian vet as soon as possible.

Even if they aren’t sick, the vet will be able to tell you why your cockatiel is losing feathers.

The vet will likely run various tests to find out:

• If they have an illness

• What the illness is

• If the illness can cause feather loss

• And most importantly, how to treat the illness

Getting all these things done by an avian vet is the best and only way to know the reason behind your bird’s feather loss.

I hope this has been helpful and that you find the cause of your cockatiels problem.

Sources

• https://theparrotsocietyuk.org/site/index.php/parrot-information/veterinary-advice/feathers/feather-plucking-in-parrots/
• https://www.greencrossvets.com.au/pet-library/articles-of-interest/why-my-pet-bird-is-losing-feathers/
• https://www.msdvetmanual.com/exotic-and-laboratory-animals/pet-birds/nutritional-diseases-of-pet-birds
• https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/molting-in-birds
• https://www.bestbirdfoodever.com/2019/07/avian-malnutrition-feather-condition/
• https://birdsupplies.com/blogs/news/144546247-parrots-and-vitamin-a-deficiency
• https://vcahospitals.com/know-your-pet/feather-problems-in-birds