Moulting vs preening vs feather plucking

[Eclectus7]

I have a 3 year old male ekkie that I bought about 2 weeks ago . He likes to preen but I have no idea if he's overdoing it or not. I do find feathers at the bottom of his cage, but they are usually the little white under feathers. I'm not sure if it's just a usual amount from preening, from moulting or is he starting to feather pluck? I usually only find one or two small feathers every day or two. For context it's autumn here in Australia so I'm not sure if this is when they moult. Any advice would be appreciated

 

[Mizzely]

Birds will naturally lose some feathers throughout the year, just like people lose hairs. Then once or twice a year they usually will do a big molt that includes larger feathers like tail and flight feathers.

During a molt, most birds do not have any visible down or skin. (Eclectus do sometimes have a larger molt, see here: Search Results for “Mojo” – Birdy.Blog )

If the feathers look disheveled, or bare patches of skin or downy feathers are visible, that's when we call it abnormal feather loss, and is likely due to feather destructive behaviors.

If your bird is otherwise good looking, it's likely just normal life.

 

[greload]

as Mizzely said, it is normal for birds to loose feathers every now and then but it's usually in small numbers. That should tell the difference.

 

[Sparkles99]

If you’re really worried, you can post close up photos of the feathers you’re suspicious of & the bird. Some people here can tell from pictures.