Sun losing color in his flight feathers!

[Cuervo's mama]

My Sun Conure, Cuervo, is starting to lose color in his flight feathers. They are normally a bright blue. Now it looks as if some of the color is leaching out of them? It's a pale, almost cream color staring at the tips. He's eating fine and seems active and happy. The only thing I'm noticing lately that's different is that he's bathing himself more often. He jumps in his water bowl every day at least once and flits around. Would that be leaching the color from them? Could it be a vitamin deficiency from his picking and choosing habits? Vet's not in until Tuesday so I'm just trying to get some idea of what it could be.

[Wolf]

I doubt that the color is being leached out by his bathing as some of the colors are actually due to the physical structure of the feathers and the manner in which they refract light. The bathing this often could be partially due to his liking water, but I would consider that it is an indication that the humidity in your house is too low and drying out his feathers and skin. Consider getting a humidifier, especially since winter is coming on and heating your home will further dry the air. It is also possible that there is a nutritional imbalance, so I would reconsider his diet.

[Pajarita]

Yes, Wolf is correct. Bathing doesn't change the colors of the feathers unless you are adding something to the water (people have bleached feathers on live birds so it's not as if it cannot happen). But blue is a structural color (meaning it's not caused by a pigment but by the way the feather is built) so the change could also be from the bird overpreening them...