This is a collection of important things to know when caring for any bird. I have written in places specifically about African Greys as they are prone to plucking behaviors and my experiences and research has been largely based on them. However, I believe this applies to all parrots, even those who do not pluck can benefit from implementing these activities into daily life.

When we are unsure of something we must always ponder, what life in the wild is like for our feathered companions?

In the wild

In the wild, birds are foragers. They can flock in families of up to thousands. They get a lot of exercise and play and explore time. They are allowed to breed. They are not in contact with harmful human chemicals (and they know what is a not safe natural chemical for them to eat in the wild). And finally, although very instinct driven, in the wild parrots have free will, to go, do, eat as they please.

These are some important factors when looking into WHY parrots pluck.

Daily Activities

In the wild, all parrots have to forage to survive. This constant quest for food takes up about 85% of their day. They spend this time flying, navigating, digging, climbing, chewing gnawing – you name it – they are doing it! They also live in flocks, depending on the species a wild bird can have thousands in their flock, always talking, caring, chattering and communicating with each other, but they also make noises just for fun, as birds are at heart also quite adventures and playful.

Captive parrots get all their food given to them in one bowl and that’s it for the day! An activity that would take the whole day is now reduced to five or ten minutes. This leads to boredom. Not only boredom but our parrots, like us form connections in their brains when they learn, if no learning is done to find food, these connections don’t take place and thus, our companion parrot is underdeveloped. Under development can lead to various behavioral issues including plucking, just like humans, parrots need enrichment and education. It is best if we can move these teaching and training sessions out of teaching your parrot to play dead or to turn around or to wave young, which can come later but first teach them how to forage, chew branches and figure out puzzles or how to distinguish a banana chip in a whole bowl of foraging items, and how to come to you when you call. These are instinctual activities that will be learnt quicker and create a healthy minded parrot, who is not worried about not having food when you aren’t there because they are confident they can find it. This can also be taught in older birds!

Make eating take longer

Introducing a foraging treat:

My favorite introduction toy is a simple toilet roll inner. (the ones that don’t have glue on them) I fold the one side in and make a cone, so one side is open. I stand a bit far away from the cage and hold the toilet roll up, if the bird seems scared or raises their feathers, I keep the roll at a safe distance with one hand and with the other, hand the bird a treat – The bird can then associate the roll with the treat. If the bird is still scared I suggest doing this a few times over the course of a week. – don’t put it near the cage if the bird seems scared. The next step is to show your bird that you are putting a nice treat inside the roll. Show her/him this a few times, until she/he seems to understand. And then try placing the roll (still with one side open so the treat can be seen) into the cage – put it in a separate bowl, not to food one, as your bird might still be scared of it, and this would scare them from eating perhaps. You can also cut a small groove in the toilet roll and stick a treat through so it sticks out of the roll a bit (I use a banana chip).

Foraging for food

Another Fun thing is a Toy box. If your bird has a few things they like to play with take one or two and put them into an open box (cardboard or plastic) if your bird likes safe beads or string or safe sticks , put those kinds of things in, not too many though to start off, and some paper strips if not scary. Put some treats in there on the bottom (again, show your bird what you are doing using the same process from before)

Once the toy box is accepted and fun, you can make a few around the cage, play stand or house and you can put all the dry food for the day in them, that way your bird will have to forage through the bowl, and forage for the many bowls as well. You can also do things like put some food into paper bags, or wrap the bowls up in paper, make it fun, and make it known and obvious that there is food in there first.

Diet

Diet for birds is extremely important. The feathers are made from the food. If the food is not nutritional enough a bird’s feathers will start to grow badly. They will not be flexible, which leads to breaking feathers more often. They become hard and more itching than their healthy feathers. This often encourages discomfort and plucking

Although seeds are part of the parrots natural diet, they are full with fat and oils which are not good for our companions for many reasons but mainly in the wild, parrots get a lot of exercise. In all the 12 hours our pet birds sleep, they could not dream of doing the amount of exercise their kin in the wild do. This is why any clever parrot owner will strive for a low fat diet for their companion once finding that information.

Changing an all seed diet can be a challenge on its own, and first one must understand how birds are in order to change a behavior.

Parrots are like babies! But also very instinctual. They are not going to eat anything that they are unsure of. So if you just put a big scary colourful fruit in their cage – they don’t know about it (this is for birds that have only been fed one thing for years)

So – how do you teach a baby how to do something? You show it. When you introduce a new food you have to show your bird it’s safe. (This I have experienced is easier with food that reminds them of their baby stages when they were handfed) so goop basically. Sweet potato mash is a favourite! Take a big spoon in front of the cage and take a bit off, eat it yourself and put on a big smile and tell your bird how nice and yummy it is, then take a small bit and hand it to your bird, it’s okay if they don’t take it at first. Keep offering a wide variety, one day they will love it.

I have also read that if a parrot, no matter how old will accept a handfeeding that one can embark on the journey of re-weaning your parrot. In the wild as the baby birds get older the parents regurgitations get less digested. This allows the baby bird taste everything it should eat when it leaves the nest, when they leave the nest they forage on the ground tasting everything and if it’s familiar they eat it and remember what it looks like for next time. I did this with an eight-month old CAG I rescued. I gave him a hand feeding in the morning once or twice, then I chopped up some veggies and mixed them in with the formula and spoon fed him, then I poured some chop onto a big flat plate on my bed and let him forage. He eats a lot now and is always accepting new things.

Daytime

Diet is extremely important but all the fresh food will go to waste if your bird doesn’t get enough sunlight. Birds in the wild are in the sun a lot, and are also able to go in the shade when they want.

Sunlight gives off many kinds of light. Parrots that sit behind windows – even if they are in the sun do not get all of these. Windows block out UVB which is essential in creating vitamin D. Vitamin D is the only thing that allows a bird to digest calcium. When sunlight comes in direct contact with the body it is synthesized into vitamin D, which maintains proper levels of calcium and phosphorus in the blood stream, critical for feather development. It is suggested that you sit outside with your bird for at least twenty minutes but allow your bird to go in the shade and self-regulate. It is important to be aware of your bird, without feathers it is almost impossible for your bird to maintain any temperature so make sure there isn’t a wind that is too cold or that the sun isn’t harsh on their thin skin.

breezes and temperature change

Although birds outside in the wind seem okay, birdies that sit in a draught get a chill that I have found can lead to plucking. It also discourages your birdie taking a bath, which leads to your birdie over preening and plucking to simply get clean. If your birdie starts bathing by him/herself I suggest giving a light spray with some water and aloe spray, making sure your bird does not inhale it. African greys particularly need to bath/shower because they are such dusty birds. If your birdie does not bath, you can put him by the sink with running warmish water( not too hot, – like baby food). Don’t force anything, give him/her a treat while they are there. Try and associate the water with a fun thing. don’t ever rush or force anything though. Parrots tend to live in warm climates but do acclimatize to the whether they are in, however drops in temperature are not good, and sudden changes in temperature can be traumatic as most parrots cannot regulate their body temperatures like us humans. So not going from warm to cold or cold to warm too quickly is important. (this is important when giving a bath)

Cage area

The best area for a birdie is in a common room where people are and he/she can socialize. However it shouldn’t be in an entrance way. Entrances are bad because newcomers often frighten you bird and it might be draughty under the door, and we know why this is bad.

Another thing to consider is your bird by the window? They should be able to look outside but they should also have a cover over some of the cage. Some parrots get overwhelmed by what is happening outside or in the house that it’s nice for them to have a place where they can hide if they feel scared. For a plucking African grey I suggest changing the paper every day and giving the cage s small spray with just water to weigh down the powder which also makes them itchy. Washing the cage once a week or at least every two weeks is important too. If anything in the cage scares him/her take it out but put it somewhere in the room, and you can walk up to it and play it without involving your bird at all, they might grow an interest in it. And make sure the water bowl is clean enough for you to drink out of. Parrots wont drink enough if their water is messy as an instinct, which is good because it can also lead to infection and vet bills.

Sleep

Parrots need about 10 – 12 hours of sleep a night. When they are hormonal in breeding season you can increase the night hours to 14 which helps keep the hormones at bay.

You should cover your parrot at night (unless they do not like it) this helps minimize scares from noises or shadows that they could get through the night. Some birds get scared in the complete dark (in the wild they have the moon) if that is the case a small night light can be provided. I cover my birds but give them a night light too.

Please see this list of dangers and toxins as ingesting, inhaling or being exposed to the stresses of these can cause plucking too.

Emotional problems

Now that all the physical problems have been looked at, we must look at the emotional side of things.

As we know, Birds are like babies, And birds that have been abandoned and rescued and readopted are obviously going to have some emotional problems. Even birds with happy upbringings and families can develop these too. I encourage people to do much more research than I alone can do and provide. Each bird is so different emotionally. I suggest you take care watching your bird and assessing behavior and joining parrot owner forums on the internet (everyone is so helpful on them and have years of owning bird experiences.) It could be something simple like their first owner was at home all the time and now when there is no one there it is very scary.

My ideas on plucking:

My theory on why bird emotionally pluck is made up of a lot of things, firstly birds NEED enrichment, in the wild birds have to do things like find food, water, remember where these things are, know how to fly and dodge trees and predators, all BEFORE they leave the nest. Captive birds don’t do anything compared, and thus the synapses (connections) In their brains are actually very under developed – just like a child that doesn’t have enrichment in younger life has development problems and often depression.

Next, Birds are flock members. Imagine living in a closely knit community of 100s of people, who are all working together, communicating, teaching each other and most importantly – giving each other love and care. As humans we often neglect this part of a parrot’s life. Parrots can pick up on feelings. So we as humans actually have to kind of learn to communicate with our feelings.. when you approach your bird you actually have to truly FEEL calm, feel happy, happy to see them happy that they are in your life. You have to actively stand there and send them love, use your voice, birds are such vocal animals, talk calmly and soft and have happiness in your heart. Tell your bird you love them and care for them with your feelings while making simple sweet noises with your voice. They really love this and really REALLY respond to it. And spend time in the room, you don’t have to interact, just sit and read by yourself, one on one time is as important as family time every day. Remember that by deciding to get a bird means you are there to entertain them, not the other way around.

Don’t push your bird, and accept that they might not stop plucking, and if they do – their feather follicles might be too damaged to grow feathers, don’t stress about it– even with no feathers, it isn’t like the bird is a different bird. Just love unconditionally!

Lastly, don’t give them attention when they pluck, preen or when you find a feather. Don’t even tell them to “stop it”.. This makes them think they get attention for it and will do it more.

Some other important articles:

https://www.petcha.com/feather-damaging-behavior-fdb/

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168159109002561

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5028759/