Cockatiels crest turning black?

[H3lix86]

Hello all, my cockatiels once beautiful yellow crest is slowly turning black from the tip going towards the head. Is this some sort of disease? malnutrition of certain vitamins? i have no idea what i need to do to help his feather return to their normal colors.

[Eric&Rebecca]

Hi,

Well first things first I would get an AVIAN vet to take a look to rule out anything unusual and also take a blood test to rule out vitamin or nutritional issues.

Cockatiels, at least in my experience, do well on fresh veggies, fruit, pellets (TOPS), seeds (no sunflower with a mixture of dried fruits) and rice, pasta, sometimes a little eggfood and pulses (and sprouting mix)

Tell us more about their diet and daily routine:

Do you smoke at all?
Is the bird old or young? (not all cockatiels are the same, George has a yellow crest but a grey top, Edmund is a very pale grey with yellow highlights so nothing is exactly NORMAL, there's all different variations)- if the bird is young and is going through the first molt it's probably just a variation.

First and foremost though, trip to the vets.

[GreenWing]

+1 Eric&Rebecca

I agree, a trip to the vet is in order...

[Pajarita]

Yes, a visit to an AV is a good idea but they can't really tell from blood work if the bird is suffering from malnutrition unless it's super severe...

[Eric&Rebecca]

Parajita is correct, its not quite the same as a human being.

However, if its severe enough to change feather colourings it would show up on a blood test. The bloods are more for the peace of mind of knowing that its not caused by another virus or disease. They can check if something is not quite right and it could help them.