blue & gold mccaw

Question
QUESTION: My macaw transfers between two homes. I am curious to know if it is normal behavior for my parrot to ruffle its chest feathers or does this represent that my parrot is cold.
Could you also please tell me what it means if my parrots nostrils if pinkish red represents it has a cold. I live in Canada, Alberta to be specific so our weather can reach lows of -40 without wind chill.

ANSWER: Well ruffling feathers is normal if it's just shaking out the feathers (like a dog shakes after a bath) but if it's constantly puffed up and is showing any other illness symptoms, a vet visit is in order. Changing nostril color may mean that its skin is irritated from nasal discharge. The cold weather does have a lot to  do with the birds wellness. Try to warm up the car before bringing him out to it. Also cover his traveling cage with a warm blanket or something like that. Just make sure he doesn't get cold suddenly because that causes illness. You can also purchase a heated perch (I have them for all my birds-I live in Minnesota, so I know about cold weather!) so he can warm himself up when he decides he's chilly.
So try to get a vet appointment, and once it starts getting colder, try to prevent him from getting drafts.

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: In regards to the ruffling of feathers, only the bottom half of the breast feathers that the parrot is ruffling.(hope that makes sense) My home is at 70 degrees. Would you consider this normal or part of a cold and I should seek a vet in the exotic animal field.
Thanks again,
Bonnie

Answer
If he's only ruffling SOME feathers, he probably has some new pin feathers coming in. Give him a nice warm bath and watch to see if he preens a lot more on his belly. If he's cold at all, he'll grow extra feathers to keep himself warm, which is probably what is happening. 70 degrees is fine, I usually keep my house at 71 or 72 but that's my preference, not the birds'.
You may want to take him to the vet just to make sure he's healthy, but he doesn't sound like he's sick. Just keep a close eye on him when it starts to get cold outside.