Blue and Gold macaw feathers

Question
QUESTION: Hi,
I have a 4 month old blue and gold macaw (hatched May 12). She has all of her feathers exept for a few bald spots under her wings and on her legs. They're not seeming to fill in and I'm not sure why. I can't even see any feather shafts that are starting to come out in those areas.

There are no signs of her plucking because I have not found any feathers laying around in her cage.
Please let me know what you think.
Thanks,
Christina

ANSWER: She should be fully feathered by now. Are the bald spots on the inside of the thigh and right in the armpit/right on the spot where the bone in the wing is? That can be a result of years of inbreeding of Macaws (kind of like the bald spot behind a lutino cockatiel's head or the bald thighs of peach face lovebirds) but it can also be the result of a disease. I would first go look at the parents of the bird and if possible, siblings to see if they have those same bald spots. If so, it's probably genetic and nothing to worry about. If not (or even if you're still worried-I'm paranoid so I always take my birds in) take the bird to the vet and get a full workup-especially blood testing for PBFD.
Food quality can also have an effect on feather growth. If she's eating seed, that's probably your problem. Switch her to a fully fortified diet like roudybush pellets (for adolescent birds) and wait a few weeks. I had a cockatoo 4 years old who had never moulted, and after 3 weeks on new food, started growing brand new feathers and the bald spot on her back disappeared.
So to summarize, check the bird's family to see if it's genetic, go to the vet and get blood testing, change the food if needed.
Good luck and feel free to email me with any other questions through my website www.cockatootrainer.com

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QUESTION: Thanks for the reply!
The bald spots on my Macaw are in the exact spots where you said. I don't have the option to see her parents because I had her shipped to another breeder near me.
I do give her different pellets mixed with dried fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds.
I think I will have her checked out by the vet sometime soon because I have not yet done.
Thanks,
Christina

ANSWER: If she's bald in those spots, it's most likely genetic, and if you got the bird from somewhere southeast (Florida/Georgia) or California, you can be positive it's genetic. (birds in certain areas of the country usually have common traits just because the breeders get their birds from other local breeders and so on). I have a couple macaws and seen many more with that exact "problem" and they all came from breeders in those parts of the country, or breeders that got the parents from those parts of the country.
I still would take her to the vet because it's always a smart thing to do with a new bird, especially if it was shipped in a plane because they can catch lots of things from an airport.

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

QUESTION: Will those spots ever fill in? Or will she always look like this...?
She was shipped from Georgia and I'm REALLY hoping she doesn't have a disease.
Are there any diseases that can pass from birds to humans? If so, is PBFD one of those?
Thanks a lot,
Christina

Answer
Sadly, no, if the spots are caused by genetics, she'll be bald there forever. There are plenty of diseases that can be passed to humans (avian flu and psittacosis (parrot fever) are the most common and are TERRIBLE. I had psittacosis at one point and let me tell you, it's NO fun) but PBFD isn't one of them. However, it is extremely contagious for birds. If she does have PDD or PBFD (I doubt it, but it's always good to check) you'll need to be extremely careful; you'll need to bleach everything including your clothes and completely sanitize your hands and arms before going into a public place-not just with hand sanitizer. It has to be real soap for it to kill the virus. I know it sounds extreme but they're so contagious that if you touched your bird, went to the store and touched something, then another bird owner touched it and went home and touched their bird, BAM! Their bird most likely has caught it. Now lots of people (even vets) will tell you that all of that isn't necessary, but my dad (Head of pulmonary research at the Mayo clinic) has done some tests on it (just to know how careful we should be with our birds) and found it to be that contagious. He also did some research on the dander causing asthma in people even older than 30. Since you have a macaw and they're pretty bad with dander (not as bad as a cockatoo, but still bad) you might want to invest in an air filter. The absolute best one is the honeywell true HEPA permanent filter. Don't buy one with filters to replace and none of those ionic breeze things. You'll end up spending a fortune on filters every 2-3 weeks and the ionic breeze doesn't do a thing with the dander LOL
Anyways, just some tips for the future. Good luck!