Can someone please explain to me what stress feathers are and what they look like. I have seen this mentioned on several threads but am not sure I would know what one looks like if I saw it. Is it when green feathers start to turn yellow? I have seen this before they are molted out. Just curious and wanted to know in case my QP ever had them. THanks!

I would love to know also, my baby Shangawu has black markings on some of his feathers, Is this due to him being severely ill when I got him?

Stress marks are black marks on the feathers and they can be caused by poor nutrition, illness, stress etc. That is all I know about them, someone better informed will tell you more.

Question: What are Stress Bars?My bird is molting, and I noticed several strange lines running across the shafts of his molted feathers. What are they and what causes them?

Answer: Lines found going across a bird's feather shaft are normally called stress bars. Owners normally notice these when their birds are going through a molt, as it can be difficult to see them while the feathers are still on the bird.

Stress bars form while the feather is developing. The majority are caused by either stress in a bird's environment or poor nutrition. Most avian experts agree, however, that there could be any number of stressors that can induce the condition.

Since stress bars form as the feathers develop, they can serve as a record of stress that the bird was going through during his last molt. If you find stress bars on your bird's feathers, the best thing to do is evaluate your bird's diet and living situation, and consult with an avian vet to find out what changes need to be made. Normally, correcting the problem will cause the stress bars to subside with subsequent molts.

Thank you...not at all what I thought they were.

Here is an up close picture of stress bars
Click to view attachment

Oh, thanks for the picture! I just pulled out feathers (not out of the bird!) that I had from previous molts to look at. Apparently Mist, Equinox and Zazu are stress free I will have to watch for Hermes, he doesn't seem to molt often but it could be that my daughter grabs his feathers when the fall out.

Thanks sandi I was looking for a picture.

When Kermit was under 2 years old and on a mostly seed diet, he had stress bars most noticeably on his tail feathers. Since I have switched to a diet with pellets (Zupreem) he has never had a stress feather. So, in my experience I attributed it to poor nutrition like others have mentioned.

Jeff

here is a quick description of stress bars and a picture:

http://birds.about.com/od/s/g/stressbardef.htm

Thank you all for the help and the great close up pic. I don't think I have anything to worry about right now, but with all the postings about this I wanted to be better informed and couldn't think of a better place to get quick clear answers. You guys are great!

Great information ...don`t you love this group no matter how long you have fids you can learn new things all the time ..