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Feather Plucking
Feather-plucking, sometimes termed feather-picking, feather damaging behaviour or pterotillomania, is a maladaptive, behavioural disorder commonly seen in captive birds that chew, bite or pluck their own feathers with their beak, resulting in damage to the feathers and occasionally the skin. It is especially common among parrots (order ''Psittaciformes''), with an estimated 10% of captive parrots exhibiting the disorder. The areas of the body that are mainly pecked or plucked are the more accessible regions such as the neck, chest, flank, inner thigh and ventral wing area. Contour and down feathers are generally identified as the main target, although in some cases, tail and flight feathers are affected. Although feather-plucking shares characteristics with feather pecking commonly seen in commercial poultry, the two behaviours are currently considered to be distinct as in the latter, the birds peck at and pull out the feathers of other individuals. Feather-plucking has character ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Moluccan Cockatoo (Cacatua Moluccensis) -feather Plucking
The salmon-crested cockatoo (''Cacatua moluccensis''), also known as the Moluccan cockatoo, is a cockatoo endemic to the Seram archipelago in eastern Indonesia. At a height of up to and weight of up to , it is among the largest of the white cockatoos. The female is slightly smaller than the male on average. It has white-pink feathers with a definite peachy glow, a slight yellow on the underwing and underside of the tail feathers and a large retractable recumbent crest, which it raises when threatened, revealing hitherto concealed bright red-orange plumes to frighten potential attackers. It may also be raised in excitement or in other "emotional" displays. Some describe the crest as "flamingo-colored". It also has one of the louder calls in the parrot world and in captivity is a capable mimic. In the wild, the salmon-crested cockatoo inhabits lowland forests below 1000 m. Its diet consists mainly of seeds, nuts, and fruit, as well as coconuts. Some additional evidence show ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corticosterone
Corticosterone, also known as 17-deoxycortisol and 11β,21-dihydroxyprogesterone, is a 21-carbon steroid hormone of the corticosteroid type produced in the cortex of the adrenal glands. In the very rare case of congenital adrenal hyperplasia due to 17α-hydroxylase deficiency cortisol production is blocked. Roles In many species, including amphibians, reptiles, rodents and birds, corticosterone is a main glucocorticoid, involved in regulation of energy, immune reactions, and stress responses. However, in humans, cortisol is the primary glucocorticoid that is produced primarily in the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex. Corticosterone has only weak glucocorticoid and mineralocorticoid potencies in humans and is important mainly as an intermediate in the steroidogenic pathway from pregnenolone to aldosterone. Corticosterone is converted to aldosterone by aldosterone synthase, found only in the mitochondria of glomerulosa cells. Glomerulosa cells are found in the zon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantitative Trait Locus
A quantitative trait locus (QTL) is a locus (section of DNA) that correlates with variation of a quantitative trait in the phenotype of a population of organisms. QTLs are mapped by identifying which molecular markers (such as SNPs or AFLPs) correlate with an observed trait. This is often an early step in identifying the actual genes that cause the trait variation. Definition A quantitative trait locus (QTL) is a region of DNA which is associated with a particular phenotypic trait, which varies in degree and which can be attributed to polygenic effects, i.e., the product of two or more genes, and their environment. . These QTLs are often found on different chromosomes. The number of QTLs which explain variation in the phenotypic trait indicates the genetic architecture of a trait. It may indicate that plant height is controlled by many genes of small effect, or by a few genes of large effect. Typically, QTLs underlie continuous traits (those traits which vary continuou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Siblings
A sibling is a relative that shares at least one parent with the other person. A male sibling is a brother, and a female sibling is a sister. A person with no siblings is an only child. While some circumstances can cause siblings to be raised separately (such as foster care or adoption), most societies have siblings grow up together. This causes the development of strong emotional bonds, with siblinghood considered a unique type of relationship. The emotional bond between siblings is often complicated and is influenced by factors such as parental treatment, birth order, personality, and personal experiences outside the family. Medically, a full-sibling is a first-degree relative and a half-sibling is a second-degree relative as they are related by 50% and 25%, respectively. Definitions The word ''sibling'' was reintroduced in 1903 in an article in '' Biometrika'', as a translation for the German ''Geschwister'', having not been used since Middle English, specifically 142 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heritability
Heritability is a statistic used in the fields of Animal husbandry, breeding and genetics that estimates the degree of ''variation'' in a phenotypic trait in a population that is due to genetic variation between individuals in that population. The concept of heritability can be expressed in the form of the following question: "What is the proportion of the variation in a given trait within a population that is ''not'' explained by the environment or random chance?" Other causes of measured variation in a trait are characterized as environment (biophysical), environmental factors, including observational error. In human studies of heritability these are often apportioned into factors from "shared environment" and "non-shared environment" based on whether they tend to result in persons brought up in the same household being more or less similar to persons who were not. Heritability is estimated by comparing individual phenotypic variation among related individuals in a population, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Orange-winged Amazon
The orange-winged amazon (''Amazona amazonica''), also known locally as orange-winged parrot and loro guaro, is a large amazon parrot. It is a resident breeding bird in tropical South America, from Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago south to Peru, Bolivia and central Brazil. Its habitat is forest and semi-open country. Although common, it is persecuted as an agricultural pest and by capture for the pet trade (over 66,000 captured from 1981 to 1985). It is also hunted as a food source. Introduced breeding populations have been reported in Puerto Rico and Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Taxonomy The orange-winged amazon was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' He placed it with all the other parrots in the genus ''Psittacus'' and coined the binomial name ''Psittacus amazonicus''. Linnaeus cited the 1760 description by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson. Brisson used the French name "Le Perroque ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psychoactive Drug
A psychoactive drug, psychopharmaceutical, mind-altering drug, consciousness-altering drug, psychoactive substance, or psychotropic substance is a chemical substance that alters psychological functioning by modulating central nervous system activity. Psychoactive and psychotropic drugs both affect the brain, with psychotropics sometimes referring to psychiatric drugs or high-abuse substances, while “drug” can have negative connotations. Designer drug, Novel psychoactive substances are designer drugs made to mimic illegal ones and bypass laws. Psychoactive drug use dates back to prehistory for medicinal and consciousness-altering purposes, with evidence of widespread cultural use. Many animals intentionally consume psychoactive substances, and some traditional legends suggest animals first introduced humans to their use. Psychoactive substances are used across cultures for purposes ranging from medicinal and therapeutic treatment of Mental disorder, mental disorders and pain, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Airsacculitis
Airsacculitis, also known as air sacculitis, aerosacculitis, air sac disease, air sac infection, air sac syndrome and simply sac disease, is a common inflammatory condition of air sacs that occurs in birds and is caused by various microbial (mostly bacterial) taxa. Having multiple different causative agents, the condition is widely distributed around the world. Since the disease is highly infectious it is especially dangerous for domesticated birds (poultry) bred on big farms. Occurrence of airsacculitis in big flocks can mean high economic loss, as infected poultry needs to be carefully observed, with all of the infected tissue disposed of and not used for human food. In severe cases of the disease whole infected bird carcasses need to be disposed. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psittacosis
Psittacosis—also known as parrot fever, and ornithosis—is a zoonotic infectious disease in humans caused by a bacterium called '' Chlamydia psittaci'' and contracted from infected parrots, such as macaws, cockatiels, and budgerigars, and from pigeons, sparrows, ducks, hens, gulls and many other species of birds. The incidence of infection in canaries and finches is believed to be lower than in psittacine birds. In certain contexts, the word is used when the disease is carried by any species of birds belonging to the family Psittacidae, whereas ornithosis is used when other birds carry the disease. In humans Signs and symptoms In humans, psittacosis typically presents as a flu-like illness with an incubation period of 5–19 days. The severity of the disease varies, ranging from asymptomatic cases to systemic illness with severe pneumonia. Early symptoms often mimic typhoid fever and include high fevers, chills, headache, muscle aches, joint pain, diarrhea, conjunctivi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Giardiasis
Giardiasis is a parasitic disease caused by the protist enteropathogen ''Giardia duodenalis'' (also known as ''G. lamblia'' and ''G. intestinalis''), especially common in children and travellers. Infected individuals experience steatorrhea, a type diarrhea with fatty sticky stool; abdominal pain, weight loss, and weakness due to dehydration and malabsorption. Less common symptoms include skin rash, hives and joint swelling. Symptoms usually begin one to three weeks after exposure and, without treatment, may last two to six weeks or longer. Some infected individuals experience mild or no symptoms and remain infection carries for a long time. Giardiasis spreads via feca-oral route, when ''Giardia'' cysts excreted with faeces contaminate food or water that is later consumed orally. The disease can also spread between people and between people and animals, mainly via pets. Cysts may survive for nearly three months in cold water. The microscopic identification of ''Giardia'' an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Colic
Colic or cholic () is a form of pain that starts and stops abruptly. It occurs due to muscular contractions of a hollow tube (small and large intestine, gall bladder, ureter, etc.) in an attempt to relieve an obstruction by forcing content out. It may be accompanied by sweating and vomiting. Types include: *Baby colic, a condition, usually in infants, characterized by incessant crying * Biliary colic, blockage by a gallstone of the common bile duct or cystic duct * Devon colic or painter's colic, a condition caused by lead poisoning *Horse colic, a potentially fatal condition experienced by horses, caused by intestinal displacement or blockage * Renal colic, a pain in the flank, characteristic of kidney stone Kidney stone disease (known as nephrolithiasis, renal calculus disease, or urolithiasis) is a crystallopathy and occurs when there are too many minerals in the urine and not enough liquid or hydration. This imbalance causes tiny pieces of cr ...s The term is . ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Psittacine Beak And Feather Disease
Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) is a viral disease affecting all Old World and New World parrots. The causative virus—Beak and feather disease virus (BFDV)—belongs to the taxonomic genus ''Circovirus'', family ''Circoviridae''. It attacks the feather follicles and the beak and claw matrices of the bird, causing progressive feather, claw and beak malformation and necrosis. In later stages of the disease, feather shaft constriction occurs, hampering development until eventually all feather growth stops. It occurs in an acutely fatal form and a chronic form. Cracking and peeling of the outer layers of the claws and beak make tissues vulnerable to secondary infection. Because the virus also affects the thymus and Bursa of Fabricius, slowing lymphocyte production, immunosuppression occurs and the bird becomes more vulnerable to secondary infections. Beak fractures and necrosis of the hard palate can prevent the bird from eating.Pyne, MPsittacine Beak and Feather Dise ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
