Summer is a busy time for birds. The adults must help their new brood(s) of youngsters learn valuable life skills so they survive the coming winter; many species change their diet from insects to ...

Have you noticed that birds seem to keep a low profile this time of year? “I’ve had people ask me why they don’t see mockingbirds around in August,” said Sylvia Gallagher, chairwoman of bird ...

Other than covering up their naked bodies, what are a bird’s feathers for? Feathers are responsible for more than just a bird’s ability to fly, they provide weather protection. Feathers make a bird ...

UC Davis researchers found that red-tailed hawks adjust their wing and tail movements during molt to maintain flight ...

As we head toward the end of summer, many people may wonder where all the birds have gone. Experts say the birds haven’t gone anywhere; they’re just in hiding. August is the peak molting time for ...

In late summer and autumn, millions of birds fly above our heads, often at night, winging their way toward their wintering grounds. Before the journey, many birds molt their bright feathers, replacing ...

You buy new clothes. Birds grow their own. The donning of fresh plumage is called molt, with new feathers replacing old. The feathers we see are dead once completely grown. They break and show wear.

The amber preserved the 3D structure of the enantiornithine feathers, giving researchers clues about where they were in the molting phase.Shundong Bi During the Cretaceous period, 145 to 66 million ...

Flying birds molt their feathers when they are old and worn because they inhibit flight performance, and the molt strategy is typically a sequential molt. Molting is thought to be unorganized in the ...