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wade
01-13-2015, 12:55 AM
I just got an amazon . I noticed when he lifts his wings up most of the down feathers are white and wooly looking. Shouldnt they be green . If so what would be some corrective action. I wondering if he is scratching to much. I gave him a mist of water every couple of days. Ive only had him a couple of weeks rehomed him . I really dont know his past history other than they said they fed him walmart food( not good i know) im workin on getting that changed. I need to get him settled down first. Im slowy getting him on my hand. Man these amazon are sure tough.

Cedardave
01-13-2015, 03:21 AM
I beleive that all downy feathers are white.Theres no need for them to have color as they are under the primary feathers and act as insulators.

PlaxMacaws
01-13-2015, 07:06 PM
Wade: white down feathers are normal. However, if too many of them are exposed it could indicate a problem. He may be a plucker or he may have a feather or skin health condition of some sort. If you think he looks more 'bare' in certain areas than other amazons seem to, it might be a good idea to take him to an avian veterinarian for assessment.

Dave: Most down feathering is white, yes. But it depends upon the species. Zafs down feathers are a dark charcoal gray color. I can thus always determine if the down floofies around here were purged from him ;)

Lady
01-14-2015, 07:15 PM
:pp_welcome:Wade,
:pp_rocks: because you will always get honest answers and opinions :). :needpics:, well not worthless but a pic of your new forever friend would be nice and could help the more experienced folks here see just what your talking about!

Is this your first parrot? Why was it re-homed? It can surely be time consuming to get a new, let alone a re-homed bird to learn to trust another human quickly, but sometimes I find it easier when I put myself in their shoes...

If I all of a sudden found myself in another home where I saw things I was unfamiliar with and smelled things that I was not use to or heard noises I that I didn't know what it was about it would be scary. Give all the time your new bird needs to become familiar with his new surroundings. Watch him carefully to see what he likes to do. Does he have things to do? How is his cage set up? Have you already researched about the needs of your bird?
Why do you think he is scratching too much? Maybe a spritz of water is needed more often. Maybe he has never had a bath or been spritzed before... Oh such a adventure to have a new bird! I don't expect you to answer my questions as they are more of a thought process as I read your post. My Lady has downy feathers that are gray rather than white. Her overall color is green with areas of maroon and blue as well as canary yellow on her underside, she is a Illiger Macaw.

Casper's 2nd best friend
01-25-2015, 07:02 PM
When Casper first came to us, aged 26 and having been kept in a small cage for the last ten years, the feathers on his body under his wings were grey and downy, whereas all the pictures we looked at showed green feathers there on other parrots. Since being with us and being able to exercise his wings a lot more he is growing green feathers back. He will soon be a proper parrot, it has taken a couple of years though.