# breaking tail feathers



## spideroffaith77 (Oct 26, 2011)

Happy Friday Everyone,
My whiteface tiel Adelien has a couple of broken tail feathers and Im wondering how and why that happens. 
My own un-educated theory is that the tail feathers that are breaking are the weaker feathers she had when she was abused and neglected. And now that she has a good home and not totally stressed out these weaker feathers are giving way and new stronger feathers are going in.

is that at all correct? Why would her tail feathers break?


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

It's possible, or it's possible that she was kept in a tiny cage which caused her tail feathers to get caught and broken. Or she could have gotten spooked at some point and landed on them in a way that broke them. My rescue girl also had a very ratty tail when I adopted her, and now she's in the process of molting in new feathers. For now, don't worry about it. What's important is that when she DOES get new feathers, they should look healthy.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

You are assuming she was abused and neglected. From your previous posts she sounds more like she was a lost and frightened tiel, who may have heart-broken owners looking for her.

As to the tail she appears to be a young bird and with many young birds wings are clipped clipped soon after they try to fly. With the wings clipped young birds tend to be clumsy and will break their tail feathers trying to get up on perches and climb the cage bars.

As to the tail feathers as she molts they will be replaced with new feathers.


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## spideroffaith77 (Oct 26, 2011)

srtiels said:


> You are assuming she was abused and neglected. From your previous posts she sounds more like she was a lost and frightened tiel, who may have heart-broken owners looking for her.
> 
> As to the tail she appears to be a young bird and with many young birds wings are clipped clipped soon after they try to fly. With the wings clipped young birds tend to be clumsy and will break their tail feathers trying to get up on perches and climb the cage bars.
> 
> As to the tail feathers as she molts they will be replaced with new feathers.


No I can gaurantee you she doesnt have owners looking for her. We live in a very seculded apartment complex surrounded by woods. The only way she got where she was is if she was dopped off, or flew out a window. Just to make sure we checked with the apartment complex management to make sure no one reported a missing bird and we also checked around for missing bird flyers. After talking to management, several of the office workers told us they had seen her around in the bushes and that they were certain she had been abandonded. 
When we took her to the local pet store, the manager pulled some strings and got the vet there to look at our little one. He said she showed signs of long term neglect. Missing toe, missing nail, her beak was in terrible shape, her wings were horribly clipped. Trust me, we did everything we could to make sure we didnt just up and take her.


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

Well my bird is healthy and has broken tail feathers, only because when she turns around to clean them she pulls them to far round to her head and so they snap, but they grow back like by the next day! LOL


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## spideroffaith77 (Oct 26, 2011)

Im glad to know broken tail feathers are normal. I was freaking out the first time it happend.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

She most defintely is someones lost tiel. You might want to consider running a 'Found Cockatiel ad in your local paper. A missing toe and nail are not signs of human abuse but is something that could have occurred while still a baby in the nest. Her wings looked horribly clipped because she had partially grown in new feathers, which is probably what allowed her to escape from her owners. 

A tiel can go for lots of miles when it is scared and paniced. the beak would get damaged if she crashed into branches and things, and after a few days of not eating it would show slight signs of over growth because it is the act of eating that helps to keep the beak in shape.

She is very fortunite you found her because a young unskilled tiel with partially clipped wings would be eventually doomed.

Being tame is a good sign that someone loved her and obviously took the time to keep her friendly towards humans.


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## chloe92us (Jul 12, 2011)

I have to agree; a tame bird is not a neglected bird. But she sure is pretty! Did you check Craigslist or hoobly to see if anyone had posted a lost tiel in your area?


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## spideroffaith77 (Oct 26, 2011)

srtiels said:


> She most defintely is someones lost tiel. You might want to consider running a 'Found Cockatiel ad in your local paper. A missing toe and nail are not signs of human abuse but is something that could have occurred while still a baby in the nest. Her wings looked horribly clipped because she had partially grown in new feathers, which is probably what allowed her to escape from her owners.
> 
> A tiel can go for lots of miles when it is scared and paniced. the beak would get damaged if she crashed into branches and things, and after a few days of not eating it would show slight signs of over growth because it is the act of eating that helps to keep the beak in shape.
> 
> ...


Ok, I gotta be real with you here srtiel, it feels as though you are accusing me of doing something wrong here, when all Im trying to do is give this little girl a good home. Not cool. Why is it such a far stretch to assume that the people who "owned" her left and didnt think twice about it, instead of accusing me of taking someones long lost bird?

Second, my tiel cant fly, not at all. When we found her she tried to fly, she made it almost nowhere. The only thing my girls wings are good for is keeping her from crashing harshly to the ground. Both of her primaries are clipped. 

I understand your just trying to stand up for the people who may have lost their bird. But Ive lived in this apartment complex for more than 3 years, I know the area, I know the people and I know my bird. Theres no way this is a case of lost bird, So please dont accuse me of steeling someones bird. Not cool!

some where in all this is a good ruffled feathers joke.


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## spideroffaith77 (Oct 26, 2011)

chloe92us said:


> I have to agree; a tame bird is not a neglected bird. But she sure is pretty! Did you check Craigslist or hoobly to see if anyone had posted a lost tiel in your area?


yeah, I have been checking craigslist since I first found her. Ive also been checking the mailbox aread (where notes and fliers are posted) by our apartment to make sure. 
To say she is tame though is a stretch. I know she has been around people so she was ok coming to me, but you can tell she doesnt know how to act around people. Being handled by humans seemed very new to her when we first found her.


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## morla (Aug 15, 2011)

Aw! I hope Adelien is ok! Happy Friday to you too!


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## spideroffaith77 (Oct 26, 2011)

thanks morla. Adelien has changed so much since we got her. When we first had her, if I put my hand anywhere near her cage she would freak out. Now I can put my finger between the bars and give her a little head scratch before I leave for work. When we first introduced her to her new house, she would only sit on the edge of her food dish. It was a week before she would roam around the cage. When I first used to have her out for play time if we went more than 10 feet from her cage she would spaz out and take off back to the cage, its a sad flutter. Now she goes everywhere with me. Last night she "helped" me hang up laundry. 

she has a long way to go but she is growing fast!!


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## enigma731 (Aug 12, 2011)

Even if she is tame, I agree it's not a stretch that someone might have dumped her. My friend who runs a rescue gets calls all the time from people who can't keep their birds anymore for whatever reason, and are planning to just release them outside. While it is of course important to try and locate an owner, I don't think it's impossible that even a tame bird might have been dumped.


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## MeanneyFids (Aug 24, 2010)

> Second, my tiel cant fly, not at all. When we found her she tried to fly, she made it almost nowhere. The only thing my girls wings are good for is keeping her from crashing harshly to the ground. Both of her primaries are clipped.


this is irrelevent. clipped birds CAN fly, and it both primaries are cut, this is a proper clip. a gust of wind would carry a clipped bird very far. you cant always assume neglect unless you see it. my male tiel has some slight deformities from injuries in the nest. hes got 2 toenails that looked like theyve been bit off and grew back deformed. hes got a piece missing from his eyelid and a slight defect in his beak. he was attacked in the nest as a baby. he did come from a bad home, the people smoked heavily around him, kept him and his parents in a cage far too small, but it was not intentional, it was lack of education. they did not intentionally harm him.

because someone is pointing out a fair point to you does not mean they are accusing you.


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## srtiels (May 1, 2009)

I'm *not* accusing you of stealing a bird. I have been in a position that I have lost birds and been on the receiving end of those that found the birds assuming that the bird was mistreated or whatever to justify themselves for keeping the bird rather than thoroughly finding out who it belonged too. Aside from that I was always glad that they were kind enough to take great care of the bird while they had them.

As to being clipped and flying I learned the hard way that if there is a wind a clipped bird can catch a draft in the wind and fly several blocks. That happened with my very first tiel, Boogs. Boogs flew out the door caught a wind and was gone. We finally found him 1/4 mile away screaming and calling for us. Since he was a male he was very vocal and we could focus in to find him huddled under some bushes. in the short time he was gone his feathers were ragged and his face scratched from the bushes. A friend of mine had a partially clipped lutino hen that went 30 miles in 2 days and a lady found her in posted a found ad, and could not believe the bird had traveled so far. I had a tiel that was gone for 3 years before I got him back. it is a long story but the woman that found him thought he was a throw-away bird when she gave the bird to a firend of mine 3 years later and gave him to me. he wound up being found 20 miles from me.

so when looking for an owner a person would need to broasen their circle more because tiels can go quite always when panicked whether they have wings or not.


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## spideroffaith77 (Oct 26, 2011)

that is interesting information about flight. Good to know. 

Trust me there is no justification going on here. We did, are doing everything we can to make sure she isnt a lost pet. My wife and I have rescued several animals and returned to their owners immediately.

I get that she belonged to someone else before she belonged to me. My wife and I did/are doing everything we can to make sure if her owners are looking for her that she is found. I know if I lost her I would have fliers up on every tree from here to austin, and if my dog was lost I would be out everywhere looking for him. 

But for right now she is in my care and Im going to do the best I can to raise her right, but in truth if she lives the rest of her life with us Im not going to lose sleep over it.


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

You did the right thing, I don't know anyone who could have just left and not at least tried to catch it first if it was in a poor state(like if somehow it looked like wasn't doing very good in the wild),good luck in nursing it back to full health!


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## Codyandme1 (Sep 14, 2011)

Haha, just remembered one time I saw a grey male cockatiel fly past( cockatiels aren't wild around here)so I stood out on the roof whistling for 2 hours straight trying to get him to come back,I kept checking any notice boards I could find for "lost cockatiel"but nothing, I really wanted to know weather his owners found him but I couldn't find Anything! he looked like he had just been lost because he looked very healthy,lol I thought I'd just share that


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## Kikode (Aug 17, 2011)

Hope this doesnt sound rude to anyone just chiming in with my thoughts. First of all a lost bird is sad but also as a Bird Owner it is your responsibility to keep your birds safe and make sure they wont get out. Not always possible with multiple family members but the more you love your bird the more you will do everything to make sure you dont lose it. I.E. Setting stern family rules about leaving windows doors open during the birds playtime. Doublechecking the cages are closed before you go outside. From what I have read it sounds like they have done a fair job trying to locate any previous owners and also checking for flyers. One final step you might want to try is the Lost Bird Report Website. 

http://birdhotline.com/

Just in case. But I know if I lost one of my birds I'd be using every resource Responsible to locate it. I can see both sides of the story but above all the saftey and health of the bird is more important the something as trivial as human sadness over losing a bird. Sound to me like this owner is doing their best to provide a great home and relationship and I'm sure the bird is very thankful and to me thats what matters. If you really want to be sure youve exhausted all resources maybe make your own Found Cockatiel Posters and Put them Around Town and if someone claims its theirs ask for Pics of them with the Bird. If they dont have any then I seriously doubt it was a good home to begin with I mean who doesnt stalk there pets with cameras hehe


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## jessica.obrien (Oct 8, 2011)

Just to put it out there birds with wings can definately fly because i have lost 2 teils from ither flying out the door or escaping from somebodys hand.


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