It’s molting time again. No this isn’t a bad county music song, it’s what’s happening with our backyard birds right now. At the end of summer and early fall most birds are molting. It’s not a bad thing. It’s when the birds replace their old worn out feathers with new feathers.

Molting can be described as an orderly replacement of a bird’s feathers. There are a couple different kinds of molts. Complete molts are when all the feathers on the bird’s body, wings and tail will be replaced. This is a slow and orderly process replacing just a few feathers at a time as to not hinder the bird from flying or changing its appearance. These usually take place symmetrically so if the third primary flight feather is replaced on one wing it is replaced at the same time on the opposite wing.

Partial molts involve only the large contour feathers on the birds body and not the wings and tail. Birds that have partial molts have two molts per year. One molt for the body alone and one for the body, wings and tail. The molts are usually spaced out about half way through each year.

All birds molt but molts vary greatly from species to species. Some birds will molt only one complete molt per year such as the American Crow. At this time of year adult crows will replace all their feathers one by one and grow in new replacement feathers. It’s a slow process and since it’s only a couple feathers at a time most people don’t notice it. Sometimes you can see old worn out feathers next to shinny new feathers but that is about the extent in which you can see this process.

American Goldfinch are undergoing a complete molt right now. The males loose their bright yellow and black feathers and are replacing them with dull green feathers. They will under go a partial molt in spring and return to their bright canary yellow and black colors. This usually starts in later winter.

Only a small handful of birds have two complete molts per year. These birds are ones who live in challenging habitats and wear out their feathers very quickly. These include March Wrens and Bobolinks. These birds live in environments with rough vegetation which wears out their feathers faster than birds who live out in the open.

Some birds will have just one complete molt each year, however like the American Goldfinch they will change colors over the year which seems a little contradictory. The European Starling is one of these birds. At this time of year they appear to be covered with white and brown spots. Gone is the dark, sleek coat of black feathers that shines purple and green in summer sunlight. During fall and winter the starlings look completely different, so much so that I have had people contact me and ask if they have some new bird in their yard because they haven’t seen this spotted bird before.

The brown and white spots of the starling are only on the tips of the feathers and appear right after their one complete molt in late summer. During fall and winter the tips of the feathers wear off and by spring all the spots are gone leaving the bird back in its sleek coat of black feathers. A complete transformation without molting but instead worn away feather tips.

The Northern Cardinal is the same way. In fall and early winter the male cardinals undergo a complete molt and replace all of their worn red feathers. However if you look closely in the winter they have a tinge of gray, especially on its back. That is because all of their new feathers have gray edges. The gray edge wears off during the rigors of winter and by spring time the male cardinal will again look bright red and ready to impress the girls without having to go through another complete molt.

Another molts cardinals are doing right now is replacing their head feathers, leaving a lot of “bald” cardinal right now. Both the males and females will drop all of their head fathers at the same time exposing their dark skin beneath. This is another phenomenon that I am contacted about on a regular basis. Right now I have three cardinals coming to my feeders and all are missing their head feathers. It will take just a couple of weeks to grow the feathers back and return the cardinal to its former beauty. Until next time…