Tail feathers are falling off

Question
I had 2 finches for 8 yrs, One developed a blockage in the intestine and died. I purchased a friend for the old timer and they get along excellent.  I have noticed Ricky the new bird is down to 2 tail feather, I have not seen any in the cage.  I have no idea what to do or what is going on.  I did notice there was one in the cage where I bought him that had no tails feathers but everyone else and the one with no tail feathers were bright and alert.

Help Please

Answer
I apologize for not getting back to you sooner. I never got the original email. It sounds like it either could be bullying or simply a case of feather mites. Keep an eye on the cage (don't let your birds catch you) to see if there is bullying. If one bird is a bully, separate the two. If not, then it's feather mites. Feather mites are an annoyance but easily treated. The best way to check if it is feather mites is to catch one of the birds and examine their wings. If the wings look similar to http://www.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ladygouldianfinch.com%2Fimg- then it's feather mites. The treatment for it can be bought at http://www.ladygouldian.com. The owner is very knowledgeable so if you have questions about her products, don't hesitate to ask.