Conures usually have very beautiful feathers, so, a change in the color of your conure’s feathers would definitely be worrisome to you.
This article explores why your conure’s feathers are turning black.
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Why are my conure’s feathers turning black?
A change in the behavior or appearance of your bird is something to take note of and investigate. Here are possible reasons why your bird’s feathers are turning black:
Stress:
One of the common reasons for a change in your bird’s appearance is stress, and stress can cause your bird’s feathers to turn black.
A variety of things can cause your bird stress, including changes in your bird’s hormones, a lack of sleep, predators, or threats.
This stress could also be triggered by a stressful event that happened before you got the bird
Note: This is not the same as stress bars, stress bars develop as soon as the bird’s feathers start to grow out. Feathers can turn black due to stress after the bird’s feathers have fully grown out.
What to do:
If the stress was a one-time thing, like a move, or a vet visit, then your bird will be fine once the stress is gone and the bird has molted the black feathers away and grown the new feathers.
If the bird is still experiencing stress then you’d need to figure out why your bird is stressed and get rid of the bird’s stressor.
Molting:
If the tips of your bird’s feathers are starting to look black then the reason behind this may be because the bird is molting.
A bird’s feathers are at the end of their life by the time molting comes around and this can cause the feathers to start to turn black starting at the tips.
A birds older feathers will usually start to turn a darker color and turn duller or even black when molting comes around.
What to do:
Molting is a normal bird experience, in fact, a bird that isn’t molting is worrisome.
Let the bird be and don’t fuss with the bird during the molting time, the molting experience isn’t always comfortable for the bird so too much fussing will be very uncomfortable for the bird.
Also, make sure that the bird’s diet is good during a molt.
Improper nutrition:
You may be feeding the bird as much food as it needs but the bird may still be malnourished, or, it may still have nutritional deficiencies.
The bird’s diet will affect how the bird’s feathers look as the diet influences how the pigment on the bird’s feathers look.
An excess amount of fat in the bird’s diet in particular can also cause the bird’s feathers to darken and even turn black.
A vitamin A deficiency, or even excess protein in your bird’s diet, can also cause your bird’s feathers to turn black.
What to do:
Determining the reason why your bird’s feathers are turning black can be difficult.
There are a variety of reasons why the bird’s feathers are turning black and for this reason, it is recommended that you take your bird to a vet, or better yet an avian vet, to get tested, diagnosed, and treated.
The feathers turning black indicate that the bird’s condition is getting quite serious.
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: Cockatiel Hit Head, Feather Bronzing Vs Stress Bars, Budgie Flying Back And Forth In Cage, My Budgie Won’t Come Out Of His Cage Anymore, How To Get A Bird Down From A High Place, How To Train A Cockatiel Not To Fly Away