Wondering when molt will finish and she can fly...

[Linearis]

I got my parrotlet around one month ago or so?... I got her with her wings already clipped and been waiting for them to grow back but I heard it can take up to a year.... Lately I've been starting to see pin feathers sticking out of her head so she must be molting, but I'm not sure how long molting takes? I get she will probably not grow all flight feathers back in one molt but I'm hopeful... Lately she has been trying to fly, she flaps her wings a lot but usually she just stand while flapping and doesn't get anywhere. She's been a bit more daring to jump from time to time, and one time she flew from my bed to me but I was like two feet away from the bed. That was first time I saw her flying up instead of just falling while flapping lol... Basically the point of this post is asking if anyone knows what I should expect. :/ If it sounds like she'll fly soon or it will still take a long time... I'll try to take a picture of her wings but it's hard unless she stretches and that's hard to snap pic of.

 

[expressmailtome]

Bump.

 

[NirAntae]

You got her about a month ago, but how old is she? Parrotlets go through a "baby molt" some time between 3-4 months old, then molt once or twice a year after that (depending on a number of factors, like diet and amount of light.) The pinnies on the head can be misleading, though - my last parrotlet seemed to always have a few pinnies on her head and neck, but not the rest of her body.

 

[Linearis]

I think she's about 4 months old.

 

[NirAntae]

If I recall correctly, Wisp regrew all her flight feathers after the baby molt, so you ought to start seeing them grow back in soon by the sound of it

 

[Linearis]

Aw Wisp is a cute name, and that's good if it turns out to be the case for my parrotlet.

 

[NirAntae]

Aw Wisp is a cute name, and that's good if it turns out to be the case for my parrotlet.

She was a little pale blue girl... so, Wisp (of clouds).

 

[Linearis]

Man my parrotlet did so good today, I still can't see any primary feathers but she can fly a bit anyway. She flew twice today (short distances on my bed), so proud of her. She's still reluctant though, could see her hesitating a bunch each time. So confidence must also be an issue right now and not just her wings.

 

[CheckeredTail]

Mine molted about 2 or sometimes 3 times a year. Wing feathers go kinda slowly, because they lose one at a time on each side (so they can still balance and fly) but Parrotlets are so light they can get a lot of lift even with clipped wings, so as soon as she starts growing them in little by little she'll probably just keep getting better! Also something to note, that birds aren't born with strong muscles to flap with, so those take time to build up and grow. She'll get there!

 

[Linearis]

She does flap a lot, every day but just stands in place, I'm hoping this is gonna strengthen her muscles a little in preparation. I feel bad though but whenever she flaps I say "good bird!" to encourage her, and when she flies I give her a treat xD; I know she CAN do it, but it requires her to jump and she hesitates a lot.