Three near-flightless birds

It is moulting time again.

Lennie’s feathers

Perry’s feathers

Dalai’s feathers

 

Dalai has been hit hard by it.  Often he has a mini-moult before the main moult, lulling me into a false sense of security, thinking he has been let off lightly.  He lost a few feathers earlier then stopped losing them, so I thought his moult was over, then overnight he lost 3 flight feathers & his main moult began.  Flight feather loss has been severe enough to stop him from flying.  To say he is grumpy about this would be an understatement!  You can see from the photos below that he has one wing significantly shorter than the other.

Lennie has had flight problems since his last moult & though those flight feathers grew back, he has since lost some more, so is still struggling to fly.  As with Dalai, he has one wing significantly shorter than the other.  If only they could work as a pair – they would probably get combined decent flight!

Dalai’s lopsided wings

Lennie’s lopsided wings

Dalai & Lennie’s wings

 

Perry preening

Perry has lost flight feathers too though his loss is less severe.  However, the combination of some feather loss & his growing lump, also results in poor flying ability.

For some days, both Dalai & Perry have stayed in their respective homes, with just Lennie dashing between them, either sitting with Perry, or sitting with Dalai (at a safe distance from his moody beak jabbing).

So, there you have it…. three budgies, all with flight problems.  Hopefully both Dalai & Lennie’s wings will grow back quickly.  I am still hopeful that Perry’s lump will just stop growing!