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Kakariki, Care, Breeding, Ecology, and Conservation :: View topic - Colour changing feathers
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Colour changing feathers

 
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smilingfoxy
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Joined: Mar 13, 2009
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 8:49 am    Post subject: Colour changing feathers

Please can anyone help? My Dad has a Kakariki, she is approx 8 years old(although we are not sure of her age because he rescued her), her tail feathers are changing colour from blue to yellow. Does anyone know why this would be? He is concerned in case she has any underlying illness, she isn't showing any other signs of illness.
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Steptoe
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 13, 2009 3:42 pm    Post subject:

You mean when u look from underneath?

I dont know about "changing" but this is something I cant remember ever been disccussed in these forums
The uderside of the tail feathers seems to vary betwen out wilds quite considerably, espec the outside edges...ans seems to be rather random ???

Not relared to age but where it does happen is often after the 1st or 2nd molt???

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Peter
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 1:00 am    Post subject:

My first thought on this it may be some kind of achromatosis. It is demonstrated in chickens that a Lysine-deficient diet(lack of an amino-acid) causes an alteration of color.
In parrots there is a change due to a lack of riboflavine(vitaminB2) and choline.
Also a liver disease can be the cause.
Read also:

http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/feather-disorders-in-our-pet-parrots-726620.html

http://www.zooexotic.com/PathologicalReasons.pdf

http://www.avianmedicine.net/ampa/24.pdf page 11
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Steptoe
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:12 am    Post subject:

What Peter describes above is very correct, espec when related to kakariki.
He has mentioned this issue some time ago...
Kakariki unlike many other species of parrots commonly kept as house pets primarally eat a lot of veggies and fruit plus 'Proteins' as in meat in the form of grubs and insects
Hence why much is made of diet in these forums for good long term health of kakariki...

This could very well be one of the reasons that kakariki have been considered to have a shorter life span than they realy have (12 to 15 yrs)

W know our birds have from hatching, a consistant, variied and balanced diet, yet some still form yellow edged tail feathers on the underside.
Peter could this be attributed to a piped gene?

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Peter
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 9:15 am    Post subject:

Steptoe wrote:

We know our birds have from hatching, a consistant, varied and balanced diet, yet some still form yellow edged tail feathers on the underside.
Peter could this be attributed to a pied gene?


When they are born with it or develop it after the first molt, then it can be a form of pied.
Quote Buller: "Like many other members of the large natural family to which it belongs, this species exhibits a strong tendency to variability of colour". There is still much to discover concerning colour in Kakariki. I only recently became aware of the broad variation in normals. (They are rare in Belgium) Some exhibit a green that goes towards olive.

What to think about this one? I rescued him a couple of months ago. On first sight it looks like a pied but it isn't. The paler areas are Cinnamon coloured.



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Steptoe
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 2:08 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
I only recently became aware of the broad variation in normals. (They are rare in Belgium) Some exhibit a green that goes towards olive.


Some have a slightly more yellow tinge on the breast. The "Olive" we have not seen but at different angles and in different lights, sunny day, overcast, they can appear a slightly different colour....kakariki in good health have a floresent shine to them, espec on the back of the wings, back and head, gives the impression of variation in colour from green to olive and a near grey.

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