Feather loss, just molting or something wrong?

[Branching out]

My Java Sparrows have suddenly shed a lot of feathers. It has been warm this week but their usually pristine appearance has changed significantly in two days. Lots of grey fluffy under feathers and a few flight feathers in the cage. Behaviour is normal but I've had one of them over a year and they have never looked like this before. The other is this years bird as far as I know but was in adult plumage when I got it. Is this a normal but heavy molt or should I be worried?

[wildbird]

Has something scared them? They look afraid in that environment. Are they in a regular wire cage or something with plastic or glass. Javas need to be able to at least see outside. They may feel trapped, since I see only one small window. A sudden molt like that can be caused by the bird being upset or scared. I believe it is the environment they are in that is the cause. Try a large wire cage. I keep my Java in a 30" x 18' x 18' cage, so there is 30" of flight space across. She goes outside on the screen porch every day, and really wants to be outside. I've had several of them, and believe they do best in an aviary with a natural setting (plants and tree branches). One bird that is upset can cause the other one to be that way too. Even in the 30" cage there are natural tree branches for perches, some lava rock in a foraging dish and a swing which they seem to love. They also need daily access to a bath dish. They enjoy a couple of sprigs of oat spray that you can get at Petsmart. The more natural you can make their environment, the better.

[Branching out]

It's the camera that has startled them. The cage is 6ft long and 18" wide. The front is wire and the back and sides are plastic which offers protection for them. It has an area of sand and stone, lots of natural perching, a sand bath and another with grit and cuttlefish in which they pick at but only a bit. Natural light is reflected in and they have two avian lamps. The newer bird came from a cage, not an aviary and the other has been content where it is fro a year.

Any other ideas?

Joe.