This gnarly-looking parakeet showed up on our bird feeder yesterday. Dave saw it first and said, "That parakeet is filthy!" It's only when we looked closer that we realized it wasn't dirty, but was instead missing patches of feathers.
I think we're seeing an annual or biennial molt, when the bird loses its old feathers and grows new ones. For a while in between it looks pretty awful and apparently can be quite cranky. It surely must not feel good to have spiky pinfeathers coming through your exposed skin.
The funny thing is, you'd think they'd all be molting at the same time, but this is the only one we've seen looking this bad. Maybe the others are on a slightly different schedule.
I did some household projects yesterday, mostly cleaning, and trimming the monster on the patio. I collected a bag full of garden waste. (Look how open our patio looks in that linked post -- we have so many plants now, and big ones, that we can barely move around out there!)
I also sealed our green cherry tomatoes in a paper bag with an apple, in the hopes that at least some of them will ripen. (JayCee mentioned using a banana for this purpose; apparently apples have the same effect because they both exude ethylene gas, which promotes ripening.) I have no idea how long I'm supposed to leave them in there, but maybe I'll check back in a week or so. Eventually I'm going to want to eat that apple.
Today our property managers are supposed to visit the flat for "an interim visit report." I have no idea what the heck that's supposed to mean, especially since we just had our annual inspection two months ago. I suspect the managers, or possibly the landlords, want a look at a couple of things they've talked about fixing. Fortunately we don't need to be here.
Dave has parent/teacher conferences today and tomorrow. I'm not sure what I'm going to do, since there won't be many kids around -- maybe more book weeding. Some of you expressed surprise that we're already going on a break this week (after conferences), given that the kids just came back to school relatively recently. We're on a slightly different schedule from the British schools, so our mid-term breaks come a bit earlier.
I don't know anything specific about parakeets, but if they have social structures like hens and other birds, it might be a case of the one you saw being the last in the pecking order, and others of his/her flock being responsible of the featherless patches. I hope not!
ReplyDeleteHere, after the summer break school has started in the second week of September, and before October is over, they break up again for a week. I'll notice that mostly by how pleasantly empty the platforms and the trains on my way to work will be.
Poor parakeet! If he's a regular visitor you can keep monitoring his condition and see how he progresses.
ReplyDeleteI check my banana / tomato bag every couple of days and replace the banana with a fresh one once it shows signs of becoming overripe. Some of the tomatoes are quite slow to turn red but they get there eventually.
I hope you have tidied up your flat before the interim inspection and hidden away all the seedy magazines and books you enjoy but never mention within the bounds of this blog. At work you just should wait till BBW tells you what to do - there will probably be just two words.
ReplyDeleteDo people in London complain about these 'foreign' parakeet, or have they settled in as incomers. Given the uprisings about foreign plants invading the countryside, the parakeets seem spotless in their behaviour ;)
ReplyDeleteNow this made me laugh out loud, thelma!
DeleteI'm waiting patiently for the parakeets to reach Berkshire. I'm sure it will happen eventually.
ReplyDeleteI always find it amazing that parakeets exist "in the wild" in London!
ReplyDeleteAs we say here in horse country, that parakeet looks like he's been rode hard and put away wet.
ReplyDeleteWhen my hens molted they quit laying eggs. It must take a great deal of energy to replace all those feathers.
ReplyDeleteSeems to be a good science fiction book could be written about humans if we molted once a year and shed the outer layer of skin off. Even better if it happened toward the end of October around Halloween/Day of the Dead!
ReplyDeleteThe tomatoes should ripen. They like to be in the dark as well.
ReplyDeletePoor parakeet, I'd be grumpy too.
I'm surprised I never see the songbirds around here molting.
ReplyDeleteDo the property managers let themselves into your flat for this inspection?
As far as ripening tomatoes go, I just leave them on a shelf downstairs in the dark.
ReplyDeleteOh goodness, that parrot does look a bit ragged.
ReplyDeleteI've never seen a bird molting. The poor bird looks ill without feathers and color.
ReplyDeleteOur schools have a weekly teacher skill development/planning day. It is either a half or full day. The kids love the time off.
I'm parakeet-ignorant so glad to hear that this is molting and not a disease. It will be nice to have a quiet day at the library. I love the idea of an early break. We never had a midterm break when I was in school. (Also a good reminder on traveling in UK in October! We always thought that would be a quiet time, but if you hit break at an attraction, oops!)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the inspection, just keep a cool head and look bored.
ReplyDeleteThis morning we watched two green parakeets attempting to demolish the lid of the bird feeder - so far without success but no doubt, they are now discussing their methods and will be back.
I hope your day wasn't too boring - that drives me crazy. I like to be just the right amount of busy (just like I want the temp to be just so. So picky! Ha!).
ReplyDeleteI didn’t know that about ripening tomatoes. Am I right to assume it’s supposed to work for all tomatoes? I wouldn’t waste a banana, however. My favorite. Also curious to know what the inspection is for. Maybe they plan to install a hot tub. I think parakeets living free molt 2 or three times a year. No time to look it up, though, I’ve got laundry waiting on the roof and it’s getting dark1
ReplyDeleteI never had much luck with tomatoes although I didn't know about the banana/apple trick. It seems like they rotted before they ripened. Inspections always make me nervous although it sounds like it has nothing to do with how you're treating the flat. In my case before my younger daughter lived in my rental (I'm there a lot), a yearly inspection was vital. Even with that, there were issues, like smoking where they weren't supposed to, lawn care problems, destructive pets, etc.
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