Came across this poor girl today. Looks like her tail feathers have been ripped out, she could fly but looked a little awkward.
Who's got my tail-0803 by rawshorty, on Flickr">[/url] Who's got my tail-0803 by rawshorty, on Flickr
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Who's got my tail-0815 by rawshorty, on Flickr">Who's got my tail-0815 by rawshorty, on Flickr
It's not unusual for an Adelaide Rosella or two to be short of tail around my place on the s.e. slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges SA. I have wondered what causes this.
No sure if they are like the birds I have at home but both my Canaries and my cockatiel Dolly have been minus a tail. It is a process of molting i think ( well with my lot anyway) . Rita the lorikeet has yet to lose hers but I haven't had her long and she doesn't seem to molt as much as the others .
Kerry - Perth, Western Australia.
The Adelaide Rosellas I see with short tails are usually single birds, the rest have tails of standard issue length. If the shortness of tail was due to molting I'd expect to see a number with short tails at the same time.