Pictures Do budgies tails' get longer each molt?

[Kiwi & Co.]

I couldn't find an answer on Google, so I decided to post my question here.

I was sorting Kiwi and Blizzard's molted feathers, when I noticed the the older long tail feathers are noticeably shorter than the ones more recently molted.

I also noticed that Kiwi's tail has always been at least a half inch longer than Blizzard's, and Blizzard seems to show her split for pied on her oldest tail feathers (very faint white spot on one feather, and white tail tips)

Here are some pictures, the smaller feathers are older. Both Kiwi and Blizzard have only molted 4 long tail feathers each.

Blizzard's feathers:


Kiwi's feathers:


Kiwi's most recent feather (molted today) and Blizzard's most recent feather (molted a few months ago)


(The lighting was bad for the first two photos, so the feathers look kind of brown)

 

[Lady Jane]

Good question. In my experience budgies have various length to thier tail feathers. No uniformity.

 

[Ali]

"Do budgies tails' get longer each molt?"

I would assume so, otherwise you got some weird birds

 

[Chomskypom]

I don’t think they get longer indefinitely, though a budgie with a scissor-tailed flycatcher tail would look really neat!

Did their diet change between the first and second set? My birds got much healthier feathers, including the length though not as pronounced as in your case, once they had had a few months of good nutrition and enough space not to fray their feathers on the cage bars.

 

[tka]

There are species of gull where the juveniles have shorter flight feathers than the mature adults. It's because the shorter wings are easier to control for young birds that are still learning how to fly.

So there's a precedent for younger birds to have shorter feathers, with longer feathers coming in after their first moult, but I don't know if it happens in any species of parrot. Interesting question!

 

[Kiwi & Co.]

I don’t think they get longer indefinitely, though a budgie with a scissor-tailed flycatcher tail would look really neat!

Did their diet change between the first and second set? My birds got much healthier feathers, including the length though not as pronounced as in your case, once they had had a few months of good nutrition and enough space not to fray their feathers on the cage bars.

They did have a mainly seed diet before, so that’s probably part of it.

There are species of gull where the juveniles have shorter flight feathers than the mature adults. It's because the shorter wings are easier to control for young birds that are still learning how to fly.

So there's a precedent for younger birds to have shorter feathers, with longer feathers coming in after their first moult, but I don't know if it happens in any species of parrot. Interesting question!

I think birds like ringnecks and plum headed parakeets get a longer tail each molt until they reach adult length, maybe it is for learning like in the gulls.

 

[Destiny]

I don't know about parakeets, but I have heard that a peacock's train (tail feathers) gets longer each year. So a two or three year old will have a noticeably smaller display compared with a seven or eight year old peacock.

It takes time to be that magnificent.

 

[Mybluebird]

It makes sense to me that as the budgie grows bigger, so would the tail and wing feathers but when they stop growing, the feathers would stay the same length. Just my rationalization - no real knowledge or evidence.

 

[Sparkles99]

Is it possible that the feathers are from different spots on the tail? Out of curiosity, how long are they?

 

[Kiwi & Co.]

Is it possible that the feathers are from different spots on the tail?

No, there are only up to two of these long tail feathers at a time.

Out of curiosity, how long are they?

I'm not sure, I will measure the feathers later.

 

[Olliebirb]

Interesting how yours have gotten longer and it got me curious about my budgies tail feathers so I got out my feather collection and the sizes seem to be consistent with Winston's. Though I couldn't test this theory with Oliver's tail feathers since he broke them off before they fully moulted out, still don't know the reason why he did but he thankfully hasn't done that with his new tail feathers.

Winston's above. But what I've noticed is that with Winston's tail he has one long tail feather and then a shorter one right under the long one.

Oliver's above. Unlike Winston, Oliver's current tail feathers are both the same size while Winston has a long one and then a shorter one under the long one

Sorry for the bad image but this is Oliver's now which is half blue half white!

 

[Mybluebird]

Interesting! Buddy also has 2 long tail feathers but they are both the same length. If you look at the shape at the top, they almost look like a left hand/ right hand feather or mirror images.

 

[Kiwi & Co.]

The different lengths while still on the bird could be that one feather is still growing in, Blizzard lost one of her long tail feathers once, and had a short tail for a while because her other feather was still growing.

If you look at the shape at the top, they almost look like a left hand/ right hand feather or mirror images.

This is what the tail looks like while flying, maybe that’s why they look mirrored?

(Sorry that it’s a stock photo, it’s the best one I could find that showcases the tail feathers)

 

[Mybluebird]

Not really tail related but as Buddy is getting older, the yellow in his wings is getting more yellow. When he lost wing feathers in the past, it was hard to tell the difference between his and Tweetie's who has white and black wings.

 

[Punchit]

I think they do in a way. When they are younger it's like baby tail feathers. When they get older they get longer tail feathers. My two cents

I've seen it happen with some of my birds.

 

[BirdWorld]

I don’t think that’s possible. Maybe when they’re babies they have baby tail feathers that fall out and grow new ones the next molt, but if it happened every molt I’m pretty sure they’d look something like this:

 

[clarousel]

I don’t think that’s possible. Maybe when they’re babies they have baby tail feathers that fall out and grow new ones the next molt, but if it happened every molt I’m pretty sure they’d look something like this: View attachment 351885

That's a super long tail!

Preeno's tail isn't anywhere near that long I think.

 

[Ali]

I don’t think that’s possible. Maybe when they’re babies they have baby tail feathers that fall out and grow new ones the next molt, but if it happened every molt I’m pretty sure they’d look something like this: View attachment 351885

Omg, that is long!! Can you measure it?

 

[BirdWorld]

That's a super long tail!

Preeno's tail isn't anywhere near that long I think.

Omg, that is long!! Can you measure it?

That isn’t his real tail
This is his real tail:

 

[clarousel]

That isn’t his real tail
This is his real tail: View attachment 351888

Omg I did not read your post properly what great photo editing skills!