Your birds have no say as to what color their feathers turn, so if your bird’s feathers do change from one color to another know that the bird is just as confused as you are.
This article is a look into why your bird’s feathers may be turning white.
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Sun conure feathers turning white:
A bird’s feathers can change in appearance, they can become ragged, dull, and they can change in color as well, turning black or even white.
Here are reasons why your bird’s feathers may be turning white:
Molting:
One of the simplest reasons why your sun conure feathers are turning white is that the bird is about to molt. Birds need to molt to get rid of their old feathers.
Birds molt once or twice a year and by the time the feathers are this old they are likely quite raggedy.
The bird’s feathers may not only be raggedy, they may also start to turn white the older they get. This may be what is going on with your bird.
What to do:
The color change is natural and is not something that needs to be worried about.
That being said, while the molting process is a normal and natural process, the process is uncomfortable and can cause irritation on the bird’s skin.
You can relieve the bird by moisturizing the bird’s itchy skin. Do this by placing your bird in a humid room or misting the bird.
You should also do your best to avoid touching and petting the bird as this can irritate the bird’s skin.
Leucism:
This is a genetic mutation that can cause your sun conure’s feathers to start to look white. A bird who has this condition isn’t ill, it is simply different than the rest.
This mutation isn’t commonly passed down from generation to generation in the wild as predators would target, kill and eat birds with these white feathers before they had the chance to reproduce.
However, because there are no predators in domestic settings birds with this gene may pass it to their offspring with no issues.
What to do:
There is nothing you can do in this situation but there is also nothing to worry about if your bird has this condition, the bird will continue to live its life as normal and you can let it be.
Vitiligo:
The same vitiligo that affects human skin can affect your bird as well.
This condition in humans causes our skin to develop pale or white patches on the skin, these patches can spread and can eventually cover the majority of the body.
A similar situation can happen with your birds in that the feathers start to change to white as the bird ages.
Your bird may start off with feathers that are very colorful but its feathers may start to turn white with time.
This is also more apparent in domestic settings as birds with vitiligo in the wild will be targeted more because of their color and won’t be able to pass the gene to their offspring.
Birds in domestic settings can pass this onto their offspring with no issue.
What to do:
This is another normal phenomenon so you don’t have to do anything about it. If you let this bird breed then the chances of their offspring having vitiligo will be higher.
If you enjoyed this article then you may also be interested in other bird related articles. Here are some articles that you may be interested in: Parrot Feathers Turning White?, Why Do My Budgie’s Feathers Look Scruffy?, Why Does My Parrot Look Scruffy?, Brown Spot On Cockatiel Beak, Brown Spot On Parakeets Beak