parakeet illnss

Question
My parakeet seems to have redness on the top of his head, and what looks like hard white bristles or feather tips protruding from this area. The redness looks like it was bloodied or is a sore. The bird shows no others signs of illness. No mites visible. Ideas?

Answer
Hi, Michael.  Thanks for posting!

Are there any other birds present in the same cage?  

The "white bristles" or "feather tips" you describe are most likely just that...from your description, I'd say these are new feathers (called pin feathers) coming in.  Your bird is most likely in a molt.

The redness could be from another bird in the same cage preening this bird in this location (incoming feathers often itch and a companion bird helps with preening in certain unreachable locations on the body) causing the area to bleed, could be a broken "blood feather."  A blood feather is a new, incoming feather that still has a blood supply.  If a blood feather gets broken (from preening, rubbing, etc.), it will bleed.  (Feathers that are finished growing lose their blood supply and don't bleed if broken off.)  Could also be an injury of some sort.  

Does this sound like what you are seeing?  If not, give me some more details.

As long as the area isn't bleeding, I'd recommend waiting a few days/week to see if new feathers coming in take care of the problem.

Chrys