Otis before...

Two years ago when Otis began plucking his feathers and picking small wounds on his chest, Freedman leaped into action. Following experts’ advice, she put him on an all-organic diet, bathed him daily, installed a full-spectrum light and provided lots of toys.

Months of careful tending seemed to pay off. This summer, Otis refeathered into beautiful white plumage, much to Freedman’s relief.

...and after barbering his feathers.

"This is truly the most frustrating and stressful thing I have ever dealt with in my life -- and I've had a few doozies," said a weary Freedman. "When I hold him, it’s like cuddling with a porcupine. He looks like a punker."

Far from neglected
Despite his appearance, Otis seems happy and eats well, says Freedman, who keeps her bird on a playstand all day outside her home office in upstate New York. "This is not a lonely or bored bird by any means."

Otis now gets water filtered by reverse osmosis and food sprinkled with acidophilus, kyolic garlic and a "little pure cinnamon just in case he has a yeast, bacteria or parasite infection going on."

Although previous tests at her vet’s office have shown no medical problems, Freedman is having the bird retested for a variety of diseases.

At the same time, she’s considering scaling back her efforts.

"I believe owners can fuss over their birds too much. It seems like those who do the least have full-feathered birds, and those who do all the researching and preparing of fancy meals usually have the pluckers."

The feather-picking club
Freedman is not alone in her frustration. Untold numbers of parrot owners wrestle with the vexing problem of feather picking. By some estimates, up to 20 percent of all captive psittacines do it.

Plucking is virtually unknown in the wild bird population, and no other pet practices the self-destruction parrots do.

The problem unites parrot owners in a way that other bad bird habits do not.

Owners speak their own lingo and alphabet soup of acronyms, such as "barbering" and "QMS" (see Painful words: A feather-picking glossary).

They gather on Web sites, mailing lists and online clubs (see the end of this article for links) to commiserate and discuss the latest treatments.

A veritable cottage industry has sprung up around feather picking, ranging from special anti-picking toys to behavior consulting to the use of questionable alcohol-tinged elixirs.

Any bird can pick, ranging from budgies to macaws. However, larger, more intelligent birds seem to suffer from the problem the most often, especially African greys and cockatoos.

Birds who occasionally pluck may pull a few leg or chest feathers. They may strip, worry or break off the ends of feathers, leaving plumage looking pale or stubbled.

In severe cases, a bird will remove all feathers and down for a near-naked plucked-chicken effect, or it may concentrate so heavily on one area it inflicts bleeding wounds.

Some have compared plucking to trichotillomania, the obsessive compulsive human disorder of hair pulling.

The "tiresome mania"
Plucking is not a new problem among pet parrots, if literature is any indication. In A Simple Heart, published in 1876, Flaubert describes Loulou, an unidentified green parrot with "his front blue, and his throat golden" as having the "tiresome mania" of pulling out his feathers.

Occasionally, the cure is easy. Cockatiels and budgies, for instance, are prone to giardia, a protozoa that makes the bird’s skin itch. Once treated, these birds usually stop disturbing their feathers.

For this reason, it’s a good idea to rule out medical reasons first. At the first sign of plucking, ask your avian vet to give your bird a thorough physical examination and basic blood and fecal tests. (For tips, see Disease could be the reason.)

Unfortunately, one vet visit rarely cures the typical feather plucker. A bird may pluck out of habit after disease is gone, or for any number of other, unrelated reasons.

Behavioral or medical?
What causes feather picking?

Avian vet Brian Speer, DVM, of The Medical Center for Birds in Oakley, Calif., believes behavioral problems, not medical, are mostly to blame.

Parrots develop psychological problems as a result of being raised in incubators, says Speer, coauthor of the book Birds for Dummies. Then owners exacerbate the condition with incorrect handling.

Birds should be taught to step up and step down when requested, sit on the hand without climbing the arm, allow their toes to be pinned for protection, and remain on perches, he says.

"You’re their friend but not their love toy."

Consistency works even with strong-willed cockatoos, a species prone to chewing on itself, he says.

"A year and half later something clicks. Suddenly, they’re not clingy anymore. Those birds never mutilate again."

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