My Cockatiel lose feathers between his eye and beak?

Question

Hello all,

I've a male cockatiel and he's now three year-old.  I noticed a few days ago the area between one of his eyes and beak has been losing some feathers and his eyelid looks a bit red.  I checked on him everyday and he's definitely not in pain and he's not itchy and he acts normally - he eats, plays and chirps as usual.  I checked his droppings and they're healthy.   He sleeps right through the nights and he doesn't scratch or anything at night.  When he's preening he grooms that eye as well as he would do it on another eye.  

I am wondering what could that be and should I be worried about it?

I am in Australia and it's summer now.

Anonymous · Answer

If he's not itchy you can probably rule out mites.  He may just be going through a regular molting cycle.  When my birds are molting their faces can look awful for a week or two.  As their feathers grow in they really seem to appreciate me scratching around their eyes and beak more...when I have had more than one bird in a cage they will preen each other in hard to reach areas so when I have single birds that will allow it I help with the preening :)
Keep an eye on him for improvement... one of birds defenses is to try not to appear ill so often things go unnoticed until it is desparate!  If it gets worse or does not improve seek medical help!
Good luck :)

Anonymous · Answer

Dont worry . If hes not itchy hes going through what all birds go though and its called a "molting cycle" . Its where birds loose some feathers slowly to grow new ones.

My Cockatiel lose feathers between his eye and beak?

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