Tiel white flakes

Question
Our new cockatiel, apparently about 4-5 months old, itches and preens a lot.  When he does and he is sitting on the sofa which is dark colored, he leaves a white flake all over the place.  I don't know if this is normal or he needs some sort of skin/ feather treatment.  We just got him from a pet shop.  

Answer
Hi, Robin.  Thanks for posting!

Preening a lot is perfectly normal for your tiel.  Your tiel is at the age when s/he is most likely molting.  Molting is the process whereby a bird replaces every feather on it's body gradually over a period of about 5-6 weeks.  New feathers coming in are called pin feathers.  Pin feathers are covered by a thin keratin sheath.  When your bird is preening itself, s/he is breaking open these thin sheaths around new feathers and this is the white flakes you are seeing.

You'll also see a faint white powder at times on furniture, etc., close to where you keep your tiel.  This is also normal and is called bloom.  Bloom protects your bird's feathers.  If you don't see bloom, then you should be worried!  Not all parrots produce bloom...mainly tiels, cockatoos, pigeons, doves, ducks.

Come back with any additional questions.  Tiels are very nice pet birds.

Chrys