Member Since: December 25, 2007
Answers: 65
Last Update: August 19, 2008
Visitors: 4660
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I have two lovebirds and let them fly around my room every day. Tonight, as I was doing to catch them to put them back in their cage, I didn't notice that I had accidentally grasped onto the tail of one of them...this caused a few (probably four or five) of his tail feathers to fall out. I became so sad! Now part of his tail is missing :(
Although I understand that his feathers will grow back eventually, I am concerned that this will affect his ability to fly.
If all his other tail feathers are in tact, will the loss of a portion of the tail feathers affect my bird's ability to fly well?
Thank you for the info! (link)
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Yes, it could affect his flight--tailfeathers are used for "steering". I would stay in your room with your bird for a while, watch carefully how he flies. If he can't maneuver as well as he used to, I would leave him in his cage until the feathers grow back.
If you didn't grab hard on his tail and the feathers came out easily, chances are he was going to "molt" them soon, so the feathers should grow in pretty quickly.
I've heard horror stories from some other bird owners about birds that ran into walls or other objects and knocked their beaks clean off! When that happens, you have to feed your bird liquid food with an eye dropper for months until the beak grows back in...besides the fact that it's pretty horrible for the bird!
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Rating: 5
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Thanks so much for the information, I think that some of the feathers were not ready to be molted. I'll monitor how he flys around in his cage, and wait a few weeks for the feathers to grow back.
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