Pictures Krem made it across the room!!!

[Garet]

I'm so proud of my little man!!! I was laying around watching a vid while he was playing with the other birds when something hit the bed by my head, which is on the complete opposite side of the room from where he was!!!! It wasn't the most graceful thing and he barely managed yo avoid smacking into my face, but he got here!


And he convinced Goku to land on me!!!

 

[Garet]

An odd question, but does anyone know what order a birds major flight feathers moult? I think he might have lost and replaced the ones closest to his body. Krem stretched out his wing and ran his foot through his feathers, and I noticed that his innermost feathers closest to his body look like they now have soft, round feathery tips instead of the abrupt cut they used to have.

Unless I'm going insane here, all his feathers were cut...

 

[hrafn]

Good job, Krem!!

 

[Dona]

Is There An Order In Which The Feathers Fall Out?

Yes. When feathers are molted normally, an equal number are lost on both sides of the body. There are no bald patches and the new pinfeathers appear quickly. In that way, the bird continues to have the ability to fly in balance, old feathers protect the new blood-filled pinfeathers from damage and the bird can maintain its body temperature. This is most apparent with wing feathers and is the reason you need to examine de-flighted pets frequently to be sure the clipped feathers have not been replaced. Primary wing feathers are often the first to fall out during a molt. Usually, the inner ones fall first. Then the secondary flight feathers and tail feathers start being lost and replaced, followed by the contour feathers.

 

[Garet]

Is There An Order In Which The Feathers Fall Out?

Yes. When feathers are molted normally, an equal number are lost on both sides of the body. There are no bald patches and the new pinfeathers appear quickly. In that way, the bird continues to have the ability to fly in balance, old feathers protect the new blood-filled pinfeathers from damage and the bird can maintain its body temperature. This is most apparent with wing feathers and is the reason you need to examine de-flighted pets frequently to be sure the clipped feathers have not been replaced. Primary wing feathers are often the first to fall out during a molt. Usually, the inner ones fall first. Then the secondary flight feathers and tail feathers start being lost and replaced, followed by the contour feathers.

I looked back over my old posts, and she indeed clipped his secondaries. Judging by this diagram and what I saw when he stretched out his wings, he's regrown his secondary feathers on both sides. I wonder if he's just having an unusual molt... Everything seems to be even, from what I saw, so that's good enough for me!

Little Krem's going to be flying soon! My little man is growing up.