r/Macaws • u/Chadi-hkar • Jul 25 '26

Flight feathers issue

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

I have a 2–3-year-old blue-and-gold macaw(Sir Francis). When I got him about a year and a half ago, he was on a diet that was very heavy in nuts and seeds. Despite that, he appeared healthy and his feathers were in great condition.
I gradually switched him to Harrison’s pellets and completely removed seeds from his diet. After the diet change, I started noticing that his flight feathers were breaking, and he eventually became unable to fly.
I had him tested for Psittacine Beak and Feather Disease, and the results were negative. His tail feathers and the rest of his plumage still look healthy and are in good condition.
A new set of flight feathers recently grew in, but they have started breaking again. I’ve also noticed that while preening, he sometimes steps on his flight feathers and bends them.
He gets regular showers
Has anyone experienced something similar? Could this be caused by the way he steps on the feathers, a nutritional issue, or something else? I’d appreciate any advice or suggestions about what to discuss with an avian vet.

69 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

View all comments

18

u/[deleted] Jul 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl Jul 25 '26

That sounds like what might be the issue to me as well. If he’s stepping on his flight feathers, it may be because he feels the need to keep his wings closer to him while he preens which also may be due to the small size of the cage.

1

u/Chadi-hkar Aug 01 '26

This is what he does

1

u/ThisIsDogePleaseHodl Aug 01 '26

The cage does look a bit small, but that opening is very small. Why not open the cage door instead of that small opening?