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Re: Moulting Question

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Posted by Hans on March 29, 2002 at 14:48:44:

In Reply to: Re: Moulting Question posted by Bonnie M. on March 25, 2002 at 07:15:21:

: They moult out in like Januaryish on the East coast, but most birds don't loose ALL their feathers at once because they would become too vulnerable. They would not be at their flying best during a moult, but neither would they be totally grounded. Hope that helps.

I beg to differ with that info. Raptors usually start the moult(in the northern hemisphere)by mid to late spring and it lasts all the way to the end of summer. The moult always occurs when the food supply is at its highest. Due to the fact that this process is very energy-expensive, they can't afford to start loosing the feathers during the peak of winter (jan/feb) when food is scarce and they are still migrating. In order for a bird to survive the winter migration it must be fully feathered. When the summer starts they are already breeding, food is abundant and they can start the moult as well.
In captivity, you can have some degree of control over the moult. for example; one of my harris hawks was flown all through the summer last year, becuse his weight was low, he did not go into moulting(only lost one tail feather). The birds that were grounded were fed a lot, their weight increased by 20-30% and they dropped every single feather.
Hans

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: : They moult out in like Januaryish on the East coast, but most birds don't loose ALL their feathers at once because they would become too vulnerable. They would not be at their flying best during a moult, but neither would they be totally grounded. Hope that helps. : I beg to differ with that info. Raptors usually start the moult(in the northern hemisphere)by mid to late spring and it lasts all the way to the end of summer. The moult always occurs when the food supply is at its highest. Due to the fact that this process is very energy-expensive, they can't afford to start loosing the feathers during the peak of winter (jan/feb) when food is scarce and they are still migrating. In order for a bird to survive the winter migration it must be fully feathered. When the summer starts they are already breeding, food is abundant and they can start the moult as well. : In captivity, you can have some degree of control over the moult. for example; one of my harris hawks was flown all through the summer last year, becuse his weight was low, he did not go into moulting(only lost one tail feather). The birds that were grounded were fed a lot, their weight increased by 20-30% and they dropped every single feather. : Hans

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