# Feathers falling and clumps?



## ivankhoury (Jul 15, 2018)

Hello, so I recently got my tiel but I've noticed dozens of feathers at the bottom of his cage like this:








Is it normal or is there something wrong with the bird? Also when I give him head scratches I feel hard clumps of hair on his head, what is this?


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## Allison (Jun 12, 2018)

I can't see the picture, but how old is your tiel? He/she could be molting and that is why its losing feathers. Molting is completely natural they go through their first molt around 6 months. Then after that they molt 2-3 times a year. 

The hard clumps on his head is probably a built up of the white stuff that is on their feathers that helps make the feathers water proof (I can't seem to think of the word for it at the moment). When tiels are preening they have a hard time reaching the back of their neck so when you give them head scratches you are also preening them. So that is also completely normal.


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## ivankhoury (Jul 15, 2018)

Allison said:


> I can't see the picture, but how old is your tiel? He/she could be molting and that is why its losing feathers. Molting is completely natural they go through their first molt around 6 months. Then after that they molt 2-3 times a year.
> 
> The hard clumps on his head is probably a built up of the white stuff that is on their feathers that helps make the feathers water proof (I can't seem to think of the word for it at the moment). When tiels are preening they have a hard time reaching the back of their neck so when you give them head scratches you are also preening them. So that is also completely normal.


I don't know how old, but according to another member in this forum that helped me, my tiel is at least 1-2 years old. Here's the picture URL: http://prntscr.com/k9bbc9


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## Allison (Jun 12, 2018)

Then your tiel is probably just going through a molt which means your tiel is completely fine. Some tiel get more aggressive during molts so be wary of that.


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## Vickitiel (Oct 10, 2012)

Sounds like molting. Totally normal! As the feathers are regrowing, they are covered in a keratin sheath to protect the new feather.


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