Lutino Cockatiel not preening tailfeathers?

[Lady Tiel]

Hi, I got a new cockatiel, and it has become apparent that he /she doesn't preen his/her tail. It's moderately dirty. The rest of the body is preened nicely, it's just the tail.

I gave her/him a bath, to try to induce preening the moist feathers, but it didn't work.

Can anyone explain this, and provide some tips on how I can teach this behavior?

Thank you!

[Wolf]

I don't have any cockatiels, but I have never known of a bird that didn't figure out how to clean itself pretty quickly if given the opportunity. And due to that, I would think that if you just mist him down on a regular basis that he will figure it out fairly soon. He may not have been accustomed to baths before you got him.

[Lady Tiel]

I don't think he ever got a bath before, but he definitely enjoyed it. I'll be giving them frequently. But he should still be preening his tail. He's 5 months old, not a new fledgling. It's just strange, he preens all of the rest of his body and head, but never does the tail zip.

[Pajarita]

It's actually very common with tiels. I've had many that don't preen their tail feathers and I also have a lutino girl (LovieDovey) that ALWAYS ends up with dingy looking tail feathers. I would not worry about it and would also not give it a whole lot of baths because rain brings them into breeding condition so, during the winter, they should not be bathed more than twice a month.

[Lady Tiel]

Okay, thank you. He's young and came from dubious beginnings, so maybe he just doesn't know how, or was removed from his parents before he properly learned. I'll try not to be bothered by it haha...and thanks for the bathing tip, as well. Everything I read said bathing frequently as they liked was good. So I'll keep it to once or twice a month.

[Pajarita]

Cockatiels in the wild start going into breeding condition with the rainy season so the babies are born when there is plentiful and rich food so, when you bathe them often, this acts as an atavistic memory or a secondary breeding trigger and brings them into condition - but then, this is also because they are such opportunistic breeders and it's quite hard to keep them in tune with the seasons in captivity (lots and lots of tiel hens end up chronic layers).