male zebra finch losing feathers

Question
We have many birds in our home.  About a year ago we lost the female/mother finch and since then the male has been alone in his cage. About 2 weeks ago I noticed the beautiful feathers (orage circles)on his face were falling out - to the point that on both sides all you see a hole/or dimple.  He then started to lose the feathers around his neck/head.  They are not growing back and I have never seen him look like this.
Any idea what could be happening to the little fellow....I have two zebra finches (his babies) in the cage above him and there is nothing wrong with them...as I considered maybe he had mites from the food or something - but those 2 finches are fine and I have a canary who is also fine.  

Answer
It could be feather mites but I'm not entirely convinced. A good way to check would be to spread out his wings and see what state his feathers are in. If they look terrible (you will be able to easily see that they do), then he has feathers mites. It's easy enough to get rid of. Just go to www.ladygouldian.com or www.ladygouldianfinch.com and order some AIL (I believe that's the name). Follow the directions on the bottle and things should start getting better. If it isn't feather mites, I would take him to the vet and have one of the vets take a look at him