Molt time for hawks

It's mid-September, which tends to be the "quiet" time of year for our local red-tailed hawks. The breeding season is done, the youngsters have gone off on their own, and it's still too early for the next nesting cycle to begin. I like to think of it as vacation time for the hawks, and for me, as I take a little breather after an intense summer of hawk documentation.

I've not had any news regarding the Tompkins Square hawk fledgling who was/is staying at the Raptor Trust in New Jersey. As far as I know, it is doing well.

For now, I thought I'd post about molting. Starting in early to mid summer, the adult hawks begin their summer molt, where they shed their old feathers and grow a brand new set. This usually takes several weeks, and the hawks can look kind of disheveled as they go through the process.

This is Amelia in August. You can see that she's growing two new outer tail feathers (the little short ones), as well as a few primary feathers on her wings. Her head looks very white as she has lost many of her dark brown head/facial feathers.

This is Christo and Amelia in July. Amelia (right) doesn't look too bad, but Christo (left) has a raggedy looking head.

This is another shot of Christo in July where his face is molting quite a bit. All the little white splotches are downy feathers falling out. When he preened, it looked like he was snowing feathers.

To compare, this is how Christo normally looks in the spring. He usually has a neat and sleek appearance.

Here is Christo at his worst, LOL. He only has half his tail feathers (there are 12 in a complete set), there are gaps in his wings, and he looks very pale and almost sickly. Despite his appearance, he's perfectly healthy and functional.

This is Christo, again looking pale, and shedding some body feathers.

His head molt is more obvious in the sunlight. The area around his eyes looks messy.

He knows he's still handsome, though.

Adding to the spooky look, Christo shows us his nictitating membrane, allowing him to observe us through the glare of the sun.

This is Christo last year, mid-molt.

The resident female red-tailed hawk of Governors Island is a good example of a dramatic molter. This is how she normally looks:

And this is her mid-molt with feathers coming out of her face, back and wings.

By October, all the hawks should have all their brand new feathers, looking good once again.