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A Galah with a bald spot

I shower my Galah every day: his feather condition seems fine when he is dry, however I have noticed he has a small bald spot (about the size of a thumbnail) when wet on his chest. He goes into the shower with me and I use the shower head all round his body.

He doesn’t appear to be plucking or homing in on the area and it is hidden once his feathers are dry. He is eating healthily and very active - out of his cage between 5 and 6 hours a day.

I suspect that what you are seeing is a normal apteryal area on your bird. Most birds do not have a solid set of feathers everywhere on their body, and the central sternal area and that over the crop are non-feathered skin, or apteryal regions. When the feathers become wet, this makes them more visible.

About Brian Speer, DVM

Avian veterinarian Dr. Brian Speer was raised in a small town on California’s coast. He received his BS in Biology from California Polytechnic State University in 1978, and his DVM degree from the University of California at Davis in 1983.

An active member of the Association of Avian Veterinarians (AAV), Dr. Speer is a much sought after guest speaker and has presented at numerous conferences in the avicultural and zoological communities both within the United States and abroad. He is well published in the AAV annual proceedings, has served as guest editor for the journal Seminars in Avian and Exotic Pet Medicine, the Veterinary Clinics of North America, and authored chapters in several recent veterinary medical texts on pet bird, avicultural and ratite medical topics. In 1995 he co-authored the extensive avicultural reference, The Large Macaws, and helped to co-author Birds for Dummies in 1999.

Since 1989, Dr, Speer has run a “bird’s only” practice in the San Francisco Bay area and is the President and Director of The Medical Center for Birds. He is a consultant for The Veterinary Information Network (Avian Medical Boards) and the Maui Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. In 2003 he was the recipient of the Lafeber award for excellence in private practice of avian medicine and surgery and in 2006, was named Speaker of the Year for the North American Veterinary Conference.