Conures are known to have very beautiful feathers, feathers that are bright and vibrant, but one color feather that is odd for a conure to have is white
This article explores why your conure’s feathers are turning white.
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Why are my conures feathers turning white?
A change in how your birds look, a change in how your bird’s feathers look included, means that something is changing in your bird. Here are reasons why your conures feathers may be turning white.
Molting:
One of the reasons why your bird may suddenly develop white feathers is that the bird is about to go through a molt.
Bird feathers will usually start to become dull as they prepare to molt, this happens because the feathers are towards the end of their life.
What to do:
This is normal behavior in birds and as long as the bird doesn’t seem to be in any form of distress while this is happening then you have nothing to worry about.
Molting is a natural process and your bird’s feathers are bound to turn lighter to some degree as the molt approaches.
Give the bird its space during this time, molting can be uncomfortable for the bird so its best to leave the bird alone during molting.
Also, ensure that your bird’s diet is optimized making sure that the bird has enough protein and fat in their diet, especially during the molting and the feather regrowth stage.
This will help the bird grow bright and vibrant feathers.
Pied bird:
If your pet bird carries the pied mutation then your bird’s feathers may start to become white.
Birds who have this mutation will have some patches of white on their feathers in the beginning stages of their life and these white patches will increase as the bird ages.
This mutation causes melanin to not be properly deposited onto the bird’s feathers.
Birds who develop white patches on their plumage are called pied birds and birds who have a fully white plumage are referred to as leucistic birds.
Birds who have this pied mutation will usually be targeted by predators in the wild because they stand out and can’t use their normal colored wings as camouflage in the wild.
However, birds in captivity who have this gene will pass it on to their offspring as there are no predators to hunt them and eat them, the passing of these genes will cause white feathers on birds to be more common
Red feather conures for example, who are more red and less green or blue, and who have this mutation will have feathers that start to turn yellow or white. This may be what is happening with your bird
The beaks of these birds may also start to turn black and their feet may also start to turn a light color
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 Signs Of Stress, Cockatiel Temperament, Baby Bird Heat Lamp, Hand Feeding Cockatiel Problems, Why Does My Budgie Put His Foot On The Other Budgie?, Natural Anti-Inflammatory For Birds, Birds’ Feathers Curling Up