My new Black-capped Conure

Question
We just bought her a week ago.  She is still on her seed diet as well as the fresh veggies and fruit we give her.  I am going to get some pellets as I read in a book that this is the best food for them along with some seed.  The store we bought her from said she was 3 months looking at  her paperwork it works out to be around 5 months.  She does not seem nervous or stressed at all. I am home off and on during the day and get her out for an hour or two. Then after the kids get home she is out with all of us for the remainder of the evening.  She has plenty of toys that we purchased when we got her.  
I hope this helps, please let me know if there is any more information I can provide you with.
Thank you, Victoria
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The text above is a follow-up to ...

-----Question-----
We just bought a female, 3 month old black capped conure.  She loves us all and is eating and drinking just fine. The problem we have is that she is losing the feathers just under her beak on her chest area.  My daughter is worried that it is a lump, but it looks just like her chest with no hair to me, so I think it may be molting, can you tell me what you think?  

Thank you, Victoria
-----Answer-----
Hi, Victoria.  Thanks for posting!

Are you sure this bird is only 3 months old?  Parrots don't normally molt for the first time until they are about 6 months old, then again at about 12 months of age, then annually thereafter.

When you say you just bought this bird, how long have you actually owned her?  What kind of diet is she on?  

She may be plucking her feathers out for some reason.  Does she seem anxious, nervous, bored, or anything like this?  Does she have toys to play with and how much time do you spend with her during the day?

Any details you can provide will help me help you and your bird better.

Thanks.

Chrys

Answer
Hi again, Victoria.

I don't think it's molting (although she could also be molting if she's close to 6 months of age).  If it's molting, you should see some feathers laying around, but no bare spots on the body.  Sounds to me like s/he is starting to pluck herself.  This could be due to boredom (although doesn't sound like s/he should be bored), poor diet, stress as a result of her recent move into your home, air too dry...could be many things.  If she is molting, too, However, this time of year, when it's getting cold in a lot of areas, the air tends to be too dry and can result in dry skin in our birds.  Need to increase humidity level in your home/bird room to see if this helps.  Also, if she is stressed from the move, this can result in feather picking.  A poor diet can also be the culprit.  

Seed is high in fat and low in nutritional value.  Your bird needs to be on a high variety diet, including many veggies and fruits, etc., pelleted food, with seed as an occasional treat or reward for positive behavior.  Visit my website for more information on diet:

http://www.angelfire.com/falcon/birdinfo/index.html

If she is indeed molting, too, the molt is very stressful on a bird.  The added stress of moving can lead to feather picking.  Getting to the bottom of something like this is usually a process of elimination.  However, never rule out the fact that feather picking could also mean there's an underlying medical problem.  Since I can't witness the bird's behavior, etc., you'll need to be the judge of this.  Try different solutions and see how your new conure reacts.  I can work with you through this to try and figure out what's going on with your bird and how to resolve.

Chrys