8 year dated parakeed getting black on its wing?
My mom has had her parakeet for 8 years. Now all of a sudden some of the feathers on one of its wing are starting to turn black. Is this a bad thing? We don't really know that much about birds besides the underlying care of them. I thought she was imagining things until I go to her house and looked for myself. I'd say the main spot is about the size of a nickle.
Answers: Sudden black spots here and near are usually caused by some kind of stress. It generally manifests itself by black bars on the feathers. They are known as 'stress bars' (what else). Big black spots would be a highly big stress.Can't think of anything else that would cause a sudden change similar to that. You have to think back a ways and remember whether anything was going on. Maybe a big cat scare,hawk at the window? somebody departed home? Bird got sick?. You might mention this to your vet at his next physical (which I hope is soon).
