Keeping Plumage Healthy and Colorful

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It’s important to keep your bird’s plumage healthy, doing this keeps the risks for feather plucking very low. Most causes for plucking are because the bird feels dirty in some way, and it trying to clean itself. For example, cigarette smoke can cause a bird to feel (because it IS) covered in smoke and layers of filth that it can’t seem to get off of its feathers.

Healthy plumage (aka feathers) comes from MANY things. Some of which are:

• Frequent bathing
• Natural sunlight or full spectrum lighting
• Healthy foods/eating habits
• A large cage so no feathers remain broken or get broken often
• Use of feathers such as exercise/flight (giving the bird a REASON to keep them looking healthy)
• Healthy preening
• Getting the proper vitamins (Harrison’s Oil is a good supplement for discoloration)

Birds need LOTS of space and LOTS of sunlight. I know I’m very much a “home body” but if I am stuck in the house for too long, I tend to go nuts! I just want OUT and to go do something! Imagine how your bird feels! Getting an outdoor cage or aviary is a huge step in helping your bird’s plumage get the vitamin D from the sun it needs. Even investing in a harness and taking your bird outside with you is a safe way to get your bird some natural sunlight (always be aware of predators above).

Bathing is a huge deal for parrots. It’s something they do naturally all the time in the wild whether it’s from a natural rainstorm or from a nearby stream or river where they choose to go bathe themselves.

Because they have different ways of bathing in the wild, it’s important to offer different ways for them in captivity. At first, my military macaw ONLY liked baths outside in the natural rain. In Florida, it’s easy to bathe my birds every day because it rains every day so all I have to do it put them in their aviaries and they get right into it.

You can also provide a big bowl for your bird to bathe itself in. I find my birds are more likely to bathe on hotter days where they want to cool down. My birds have never chosen to bathe on a cooler day.

Taking your bird in the shower with you is another way to get your bird to bathe. The mist from your body on theirs will get them into it pretty fast usually, and if not, don’t give up… EVER! Sometimes birds just don’t want to bathe that day, but that doesn’t mean they never want to bathe again.

Flight training is a great thing to do with your bird because it really forces the bird to realize it has a reason that it has those feathers… and it gives it a reason to keep them looking good so that they’re usable!

It’s also a great precautionary tactic for the “just in case” episode that every bird owner seems to have when the bird accidentally gets outside, or close to it. This way you’ve already worked on necessary skills to get your bird back and accidents can be avoided or fixed at minimal costs. Flight training is also great for getting your bird in shape and to a healthy weight. When a bird is healthier, it eats healthier because it craves the new nutrients and vitamins in healthier foods. It’s a win-win all around.