Birds in captivity that are getting stressed out when in your hand will
sometimes lose their tail feathers. Sometimes also breast feathers. This is
more common around the time of moult (if they have a yearly moult) and is very
common in birds bought from pet shops because these usually are kept in warm
yet variable temperatures and are in continual soft moult. Losing feathers also
depends on the species, some lose their feathers more than others. You can
usually judge whether a bird will lose feathers by its heartrate and body
temperature and you can learn to let the bird go or calm it down if it is
getting too stressed.
I have always suspected it was a defense mechanism as was suggested earlier. If
the predator gets a mouthful of feathers and the bird gets away then the bird
may live to breed another day. Most finches and parrots can fly OK without a
tail, although a little awkward mainly with steering and landing.
Benj Whitworth
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