Coupl'a questions

[dieflying]

1 - does anyone else's birds buzz? when kath sits on my shoulder i can hear her vibrating in my ear. is that just a high energy in a small package thing, or what? i thought it was fear at first, but she doesn't act fearful at all.

2 - does anyone know how long it takes for pinfeathers to reach "maturity"? and by "anyone" i mean anyone here, or anyone in ornithology. i just wondered because each night before she goes to bed, kath sits on my knee and gets her pinfeathers crunched by me (only the non-painful ones!) and sometimes i see none, then it seems like the next day there are dozens!

i've come to the conclusion that i'm glad i grow hair and not feathers. the poor dear looks rattier and itchier by the day.

[linda040899]

"Buzzing" = vibrating and that means that Kath is extremely happy being near you! I think this is a lovebird specific behavior and not all lovebirds do it.

All birds replace feathers continuously. They molt twice/yr but they still don't replace all of their feathers during each major molt. It's like people replacing skin cells on a continual basis. While you may preen the keritan off the visible pin feathers, Kath will quickly have more in a couple of days and those are different feathers. It can take several days to a week for a new feather to develop completely. A lot depends on how big the feather is. Tail feathers take longer than head or body feathers.

[dieflying]

oh good, she's not just having the shakes! :) i was worried about that.

poor little girl. i hope those tail feathers come in soon because her current ones are in pretty gross shape, or at least they look like they are.