Gosh Jim, I don't know. Lots of possibilities here, it certainly could have been the bad experience with the clip setting something off. Then again it could just be a rough molt. I trust your judgment on giving her a little more time since she's back on her personality, but watch her close, ok? Wouldn't want anything to happen to that little sweetheart!

I'm so glad you didn't say "her"

Thanks, I re thought that one after I typed it. The nuts she eats are good for her. As well as everything else.

On close inspection tonight, after several more ear feathers came out while scratching and pinning, I noticed many new feathers growing in. Even under her wings.

LOL... Would have been funnier if we were talking about a boy! lol When I was researching for Mr Buddy's barbering, I came across alot re African birds needing high fat nuts for good feather growth. If they are dry, they will barber to try and activate their gland. But if they arent getting the right oils in the diet, the gand wont work, so the heavy barbering begins. Just a thought though....a few walnuts a day.

Poor baby! I think she is molting and plucking. And it could definitely be from a bad clip. Poe, eve's bfa friend had a improper clip which resulted in plucking and nail chewing, and another vasa friend of mine had the same thing happen. He barbed his flight feathers and started moving on to the rest of his body, that vasa went to the vet and had them clip the already trimmed flight feathers all the way up to the base of the feather shaft. Since he was no longer irritated by the ends poking him, he stopped all plucking. I did the same to poe, and is also worked.

Even during heavy moult the pattern would not be in patches like you see in the pics. The fact that she has pin feathers on her head would indicate molting. Which is why I say both are going on. Adding some Bee Pollen to her diet might help give those feathers a boost, and if she is barbing those flights, I would definitely think about a reclip on those feathers and clip all the way up so that nothing is poking her. The down side of doing that is they will take much longer to molt out, but they will be less irritating. I know it has worked for every bird I've seen barb there flights.

This is definitely not normal. First of all, molting birds don't have uneven patches like she does (a normal molt is perfectly symmetrical) and, secondly, a molt is not supposed to last months and months and months.

As to feather loss by shock, yes, it's true, there is such a thing but it doesn't happen to parrots, it mainly happens to columbiformes and galliformes (pigeon and chicken-like birds).

Senegal parrots don't eat a lot of oil in the wild except during breeding season (they actually nest in the branches of the oil palms but they breed Dec/Feb and again in Apr/May and the nuts are harvested in Feb so they couldn't possibly eat that many of them) so the every day nuts (in plural) are a no-no but a small peanut a day is fine (lots of peanuts in Senegal so they are well adapted to them as part of their diet). Senegals are migratory birds that live mostly between woody areas and sabanas and they are considered an agricultural pest because they eat the corn and millet crops which tells us that their feeding ecology is mainly fruits, seeds and vegetal material (lots of carbs and fiber). My Senegals are excellent eaters, they love gloop and eat all kinds of fruits and greens, they are not much into veggies but they do love their corn on the cob, carrots and celery.

The pictures look as if she is plucking to me and, if this started right after the clipping, then I would say that there is a definite connection here as it is a documented fact that bad clips bring on plucking. Senegals are excellent (and I do mean EXCELLENT) fliers, they are more like the small guys than the larger species of parrots in that they actually fly for the sheer pleasure of it and not only as a means of transportation. If I go by mine, they love to be either way up high or on the ground, the two places where a clipped bird would either not be able to reach (high perches) or feel very vulnerable (ground) because, once he is there, he cannot take off in case of danger. So I would assume that it's more traumatic for a Senegal to lose his flight than it is for a grey, let's say, who stays put more often than not.

Very little you can do now about the whole thing, though, because if it was the clip that brought it on, you'll have to wait until after the fall molt for her to regain some of her primaries and hope the bad habit does not stay with her forever. But I would still take her to the vet for a complete check-up to make sure this is not a medical condition and just behavioral. And, if she gets a clean bill of health, I would give her plenty of distraction (they love to bathe in a bowl and make a huge production out of it) and activities so as to get her mind off the plucking. As to diet, I would just increase the amount of sesame seeds to provide more methionine and orange and yellow veggies for the beta-carotene to help with feather production.

some may remember my thread about almost loosing Zoey? I let her flights grow out after the bad clip. Which didn't take long as she started molting right after. And you're right Bea, when she took off I stared in shock as she flew circles around two crows that were chasing her. That is the only time she has flown.
Zoey doesn't show much interest in and wet/fresh food. Fruit or veggie. Se did for awhile but drifted away from it. So I sneak a lot of the good stuff into the bread I make for the fids. Thank you all so much!!!

Try feeding her in her beak while she perches on your shoulder, you take a bite, you offer her one. My Cowboy would only eat that way at the beginning but, Tobita and Sabu, on the other hand, always ate everything on their own and now Cowboy is the better eater.

I was thinking today and wondering if the "crow incident" may not have added to her dilemma? Her flights grew out in about three weeks after the bad clip. The bare spots had already showed up. I know that day scared her pretty bad as she doesn't like to go outside anymore.