FINCHforum

Hello I have a question about my canary I recently got. He has a brown or pink spot showing through his feathers. Its a lot more noticeable when he is preening himself and while he has his wing up. I attached a few pictures but he he seems to tuck his feathers over it when I come close. These are the best I got

I think it’s just the corners of the wings

Has he caught/ poked himself on something or been pecked before you got him? Is it troubling him?

One of my hens caught herself on something..could have been a bit of hay but she is ok now. ..

I'm not sure if hes been injured in that spot Claire. I do believe he is in the process of a moult as well. I have found lots of tiny and some big feathers on the cage floor. I think hes just stressed from the idea of moving and coming to a place where humans are around all day and not stuck in some cage by himself. I've also noticed some type of weird colour either on his feather or below it I attached a picture of it. Could this be a new feather coming through?

Your canary looks quite normal. It's also female, if it built that nest.

One of my canary hens has something similar. But that was a few weeks ago. Has not caused any problems. i suppose birds can get dinged up. Might be due to molting. If she's eating and moving around happily I would not get worried. Feathers can break. Your canary hen looks in great shape overall.

I quite agree they do get the odd feather out of place.

If a canary has been moved to a different room/location where the temperature is different they can get a soft moult...it doesnt last long. If the canary has had a shock, like my Toffee who broke her leg and lost it, then they can go through a full blown moult. Toffee is good now sitting on eggs bless her. These birds are so resilient it really is quite remarkable.

Protein is good for a moulting bird - eggfood, mealworms etc. I provide these twice a week. If the moult is going on I give more worms etc.

Your canary does look well. When they moult they are very tired and fluffed up.

How old is your hen?

Claire

I'm not sure how old my canary is Claire I got her from Petsmart and they didn't seem to have any hard info on her other than a few characteristics they noticed while feeding him etc. Other than thinking it is a female (it chirps and does short singing) I'm not really sure on any other info. Once I get it relatively tamed I'm going to take it into a avian vet so I can get its blood done to figure out how old it is (this is what the employee told me to do).
She has been in her nest quite a bit which I suspect is from her 'soft moult' as canary3000 said it probably is. and Sheather I put the nesting material in there and then she rustled it around into shape. I added another picture just in case this is something different

You can't age a bird from bloodwork. There's no way to determine age if you dont know when it hatched. Your bird looks normal.

Okay thank you so much! I think they might have said determining sex or something from the blood I can't remember. Is there any way to tell approximately how old it is from its plumage or anything else?

Unfortunately it is nearly impossible to age a canary unless you know when the chick has hatched. Looking at her though she looks good...talons are clean and tidy..legs look good. My older birds are still very active but do have the extra odd nap but outwardly the only thing I see is the talons can be a smidge too long. Ive had to trim a newcomer with long talons. ..she just seems older in her ways and doesnt take any sillyness from the younger birds. An older bird could show signs of arthritis in its legs and would favour easier access to food and even branches/perches even platforms.

I reckon (could be wrong) that your canary is a hen and in her prime. If the mark seems to be getting bigger on her shoulder area I would take her to a vet if you are worried. Do you let her have baths...will help with the moult,

Claire

Yes I have provided baths but she doesn't go in them so I gently mist her a spray bottle

i have a yellow proven male singer i bought from a breeder on internet ,when i got it last xmas it was all yellow with just alittle white on its side feathers now its loosing small white feathers an seems to be changing colors to white about forty percent of feathers white .was just wondering if normall to do this ,would love some help to my question please darrin

Its molting, the white shown is due to the overlying yellow feathers having fallen out, revealing the white bases of remaining plumage. When the molt is done he will be yellow again. The issue though is canaries should never molt in winter so you need to look at how you are caring for him. Canaries molt when the day is long, at the end of summer. Are you keeping lights on his room after sunset or before sunrise? That needs to stop ASAP or he may get stuck in molt and die. Canaries must be maintained on a natural changing light cycle from 9 - 10 hour days this time of year to up to 15 hours of daylight in June to maintain their seasonal hormone cycle and body clock. Without this change throughout the year, their lifespans drop from 12 years to two. Canaries are, in this respect, a lot more sensitive than any other birds kept indoors as pets because they come from a temperate climate whereas all other pet birds are tropical and so not affected as much by day length.

To get your bird back on track cut daylight strictly back to outside amounts, put him either in a totally dark room at sunset where he can wake up naturally at sunrise, or cover him down with a black blanket at sunset and uncover him when all the room lights go out so he can wake up at the right time in the morning. Once the lighting situation is correct, he will take two months to molt and look normal again. To molt he needs to be fed some crumbled up hard boiled egg every day for protein to replace his feathers, but if he eats a quality pellet food you can offer it just a few times a week. If he is only fed seed he will not molt well.