Ok, tsuka is molting, some of his new feathers he molts in are brownish and some dark... you see it on his neck and wings especially in this photo and the last photo



also... he molted out his belly feathers, i thought he'd lose the scalloped look? thats a pearl thing, but males lose that, dont they? he didnt... and his belly is a lot lighter than his back. but his belly has molted....

Is this the first molt he's had with you? If it is, then maybe the new colors are the result of his improved diet with you. Some birds are naturally kind of brownish looking - Shodu is like this and she isn't cinnamon.

Even with males, the belly feathers will have a slightly scalloped look. This is because the feather fibers (or whatever you call them) are spread out and fringe-y at the edge of the feather, which makes the edge look lighter than the denser fibers in the middle of the feather. Most of Tsuka's belly feathers look pretty typical but the ones in the center look like there's an actual color difference between the edge and the center. I don't know much about pearl and don't know what's going on with that.

One possibility is that there's something going on with his hormones. That might affect the color of his feathers. Did anything unusual happen during this molt, like taking medications?

hes never been on medication. he has molted a few times off and on with us, but some feathers came back in brown while others came in grey. the ones on his wings, most are older but some have come back in brown.
he has been going through his teen stage.. hes still a jerk some days.

these are taken after a bath, hes very water resistent lol
i have some more photos, particularly of the belly





his bald spot/thin crest lol but you can see some brown tinged feathers on his neck


this one is natural lighting

His chest feathers look a little lighter than average on the fringe but not way out of line. It's the center belly feathers that really have a pearl look to them, and I don't know why. I also don't know why some of his back feathers are coming in brown and others are grey. Shodu's feathers are all pretty much the same color, although I can sometimes tell a difference when she's growing in some new ones. Shodu is NOT water resistant, she gets wet faster than any other bird in the house. Apparently being waterproof (or not) doesn't have anything to do with brownish feathers because Tsuka repels water and Shodu soaks it up like a sponge.

Looks like Tsuka has a sore toe!

munch bit him through the cage bars today


hes ok, i put some bird salve on it, cleaned it, and gave him lots of cuddles.


hes a very dusty bird lol baths dont help with it the water just rolls off lol even if put under a running tap


his feathers have always been weird. maybe over time this will change, hes going through a heavy molt right now so i want to see the final result lol hes going on 2 years old.

I wondered if maybe the brown feathers are actually old ones and the grey feathers are new. Or vice versa. My birds sometimes look patchy when they're molting because the old feathers are faded and the new ones are darker.

that is a possibility, but some have still come in both colours. the REALLY brown ones on his wings might be old, but the neck ones arent