Feather picking in pet parrots: sensitive species, risk factor and ethological evidence

Costa, Pierluca; Macchi, Elisabetta; Tomassone, Laura; Ricceri, Fulvio; Bollo, E.; Scaglione, Frine Eleonora; Tarantola, Martina; Marco, Michele De; Prola, Liviana; Bergero, Domenico; Schiavone, Achille

doi:10.1080/1828051x.2016.1195711

Cited by 19 publications

(23 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…Our group previously conducted a study considering this classification, which showed a notable difference in the FDB prevalence in the two different populations of parrots. The parent-raised population ( n = 1,488) showed an FDB prevalence of 1.3%, while the pet parrot population ( n = 292) showed an FDB prevalence of 17.5% ( Costa et al, 2016 ). FDB has rarely been observed in the wild and usually occurs in captive birds when they reach sexual maturity ( Wedel, 1999 ), even though some authors have reported the onset of FDB prior to the occurrence of sexual maturity ( Jayson, Williams & Wood, 2014 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An association between feather damaging behavior and corticosterone metabolite excretion in captive African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

Costa

Macchi

Valle

et al. 2016

PeerJ

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BackgroundAfrican grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) are kept as pets and are frequently hand-reared. It has been observed that hand-reared African grey parrots may develop behavioral disorders such as feather damaging behavior (FDB). It is well known that chronic stress is involved in behavioral disorders in captive parrots. The main glucocorticoid in birds is corticosterone; its quantification provides information about adrenocortical activity and is considered to be a reliable indicator of stress levels in birds. We analyzed the differences in the excretion of corticosterone metabolites (CM) in the droppings of African grey parrots characterized by: 1. different rearing histories (parent rearing vs. hand rearing); and 2. the presence or absence of FDB in hand-reared parrots.MethodsA total of 82 African grey parrots that were kept in captivity were considered. According to breeding methods, three groups of birds were defined: 1. The parent-reared (PR) parrots included birds kept in pairs (n = 30 pairs) with a conspecific partner of the opposite sex. All of these birds were healthy and never showed FDB signs; 2. The healthy hand-reared parrots (H-HR) included pet parrots individually kept, that were hand-reared and did not display any sign of FDB (n = 11, 7 males and 4 females); 3. The FDB hand-reared parrot (FDB-HR) included pet parrots individually kept, that were hand-reared and displayed FDB (n = 11, 7 males and 4 females). Droppings were collected in the morning over three alternating days in autumn 2014 and spring 2015. The CM were determined using a multi-species corticosterone enzyme immunoassay kit. Split-plot repeated-measure ANOVA was used to examine any differences using group, season and group × season as the main factors.ResultsDifferent quantities of CM in droppings were found for the three groups. The mean CM value was 587 ng/g in the PR parrots, 494 ng/g in the H-HR parrots and 1,744 ng/g in the FDB-HR parrots, irrespective of the season. The excretion of CM in FDB-HR was significantly higher than in PR or H-HR parrots. CM in droppings were not influenced by the season (autumn vs. spring); furthermore, the interaction between group and sampling season was not significant. Limited to the H-HR and FDB-HR groups, a trend in the significance of the difference in the mean CM excreted by male and female birds was observed, with the levels excreted by males being higher than those excreted by females. When the effect of age was considered (in the two separate groups), there was a statistically significant positive correlation only for H-HR.ConclusionsThe highest amount of CM excretion was found in FDB-HR parrots, and a positive correlation between age and CM excretion was found in H-HR. Given that the CM excretion of both PR and H-HR parrots was similar in our study, future research is recommended to investigate the specific aspects of hand-rearing to improve parrot welfare.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

An association between feather damaging behavior and corticosterone metabolite excretion in captive African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

Costa

Macchi

Valle

et al. 2016

PeerJ

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“…WT are not hand-reared and can have behavior that is more in line with the natural pattern, that is, living with conspecific partner, without developing a relationship with humans. In a previous work (Costa et al, 2015), it was found that WT did not usually show signs of FP. On the other hand, pet parrots that have been hand-reared from a neonatal age, develop an imprinting toward humans, and live without any other parrots, with no possibility of reproduction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

“…The study was based on a web questionnaire of a previous study (Costa et al, 2015), addressed to the owners of all species of pet parrots. The questionnaire was distributed throughout Italy through on-line parrot association sites, social networks and e-mails, in collaboration with the Italian Psitacine Club (named "Club degli Psittacidi" http://psittacidi.webservice-4u.com/) and the Italian Association of Parrots Breeders (named "Associazione Italina Allevatori Pappagalli", http://www.assopappagalli.it/).…”

Section: Animal and Selection Criteriamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…FP is common in many species of parrots, and it has been observed in African grey parrots and cockatoos (Jayson SL, Williams DL &Wood, 2014; Jen-Lung Peng S, Hessey J, Tsay T & Chang-Young Fei A., 2014), Amazon parrots (Garner et al, 2006), Ara spp., Agapornis spp. (Costa et al, 2015), Crimson bellied Conure (van Hoek & King, 1997) and in other Psittacine species. FP is typical of captive parrots, but has rarely been observed in the wild and often occurs when birds reach sexual maturity (Wedel, 1999).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our group previously conducted a study, considering this classification, which showed a notable difference in FP prevalence in the two different populations of parrots. The wild-type population was composed of 1488 birds and showed a plumage disorder prevalence of 1.3%, while the pet parrot population showed a feather picking prevalence of 17.5% (Costa, et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fecal corticosterone excretion in captive healthy and feather picking African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

Costa

Macchi

Valle

et al. 2016

Preprint

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Feather picking (FP) is a common problem in companion parrots, especially in African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus). Many hypothesis have been made about this self-mutilating behavior, and serious psychological conflicts can play a pivotal role in the initiation of this self-defeating and self-punishing behaviour. Even though ethological distress is difficult to study, the monitoring of fecal corticoids is a useful non-invasive tool that can be used to assess stress in animals. The purpose of the present study was to compare the fecal corticosterone levels of companion African grey parrots kept as wild-type parrots (WT), healthy pet parrots (HP) and feather picking pet parrots (FPP) during the breeding season and out of the breeding season. An African grey parrot group, composed of 82 individuals, has been studied; these birds were divided into three sub-groups: 1) WT, parrots that were reared by their biological parents, kept in couples and with a regular reproduction activity; 2) HP, parrots that were hand-reared, but did not show any FP symptoms; 3) FPP, parrots that were hand-reared and that showed signs of FP. Fecal samples were collected in the morning on alternate days, during the breeding seasons and out of the breeding season. The fecal corticosterone and immunoreactive corticosterone metabolites were determined using a pan-specific corticosterone enzyme immunoassay kit (K014; Arbor Assays®, Ann Arbor, MI) validated for dried fecal extracts. Analysis of Variance was used to examine any variations due to the breeding season and among the groups of parrots. WT and HP parrots showed lower corticosterone levels than FPP parrots. The fecal corticosterone concentration showed an average (sum of the two seasons) of 74.10 ± 16.89 ng/g in the WT parrots; 79.56 ± 21.23 ng/g in the HP parrots and 185.53 ± 34.83 in the FPP parrots. A statistical trend between fecal corticosterone concentration in the different seasons for the WT parrots (P=0.085) was observed, but not for the other groups. The results suggest that 1) the highest levels of fecal corticosterone are excreted by birds affected by FP; 2) the observed highest level of corticosterone in FPP parrot suggests a role of stress in this self-injuring stereotypic behavior.

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Prevalence and risk factors of feather damaging behavior in companion parrots: A cross-sectional study in Iran

Mahdavi,

Abdi-Hachesoo,

Ansari-Lari

et al. 2023

Applied Animal Behaviour Science

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Feather picking in pet parrots: sensitive species, risk factor and ethological evidence

Cited by 19 publications

References 25 publications

An association between feather damaging behavior and corticosterone metabolite excretion in captive African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

An association between feather damaging behavior and corticosterone metabolite excretion in captive African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

Fecal corticosterone excretion in captive healthy and feather picking African grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus)

Prevalence and risk factors of feather damaging behavior in companion parrots: A cross-sectional study in Iran

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