Molting Day

On Saturday, August 2, Beaky Coot shed his wing feathers. He had been shy and nervous for a few days before, as coots are when they lose the use of their wings. All the large flight feathers drop out over a 24 hour period every fall. Only small stubs and white coverts remain.

The molt is late this fall. This may be related to the new vitamin supplement I had been using for two months before, or because of the unusual change in climate here.

Two weeks into the month, pin feathers appear and have grown to about one inch in length.

In the third week since molting, the flight feather tips are showing at the middle of his back.

The Ducks

In spite of efforts to eradicate them, the mallard population remains steady at about fifty individuals. They are easy to count when they congregrate at the parking lot and street every morning, where they always find puddles of irrigation water, in spite of the critical water shortage in southern California.

I was stung by mosquitoes while taking this picture, so there must be enough standing water for them to breed. The incidence of West Nile Virus in the county has greatly increased this year, so wearing shorts in late evening or early morning hours is not recommended.

The ground cover between the sidewalks and bay that is composed of a few species of succulent type cacti is being removed. In past years it had provided food and moisture that could support a small flock of birds during winter migration.

Most of these plants were blooming in late winter and early spring, like the crocus (Crocus neapolitanus) shown at the right. This picture was taken last February.

These plants have thrived for years with little or no water, and prevent erosion of the soil in winter rains.

The Blackbirds

The blackbirds are affected by the molt just as all birds are, but the progression of their shedding and regrowing their feathers gives an insight into some differences.

The scraggly male at the right is regrowing pinfeathers on his head while retaining some of his old feathers.

Sometimes they have a serious expression, but comical appearance as the molt progresses. Some old feathers remain as new ones grow in.

The blackbird's outer tail feathers grow back before the old inner tail feathers drop out. Unlike the coots, the blackbirds can retain use of their feathers for flying during the molt. I suppose the fact that blackbirds need to fly all the time, but coots only fly twice a year for migration, explains this oversight of nature. Still, the coots spend a miserable month every summer as they become shy and nervous and hide from everything, as they are crippled by the molt.

The Worms

Coot News for July 1, 2008 reported problems with feeder insects. A few companies that advertise on the internet offer direct sales by overnight residential delivery. The superworms arrived with all worms in excellent condition, having coming from Kentucky the previous night. They travel in a cardboard box with screen on two sides. Anyone who picks up the box can see the worms crawling around inside on pieces of egg carton, with a slice of fresh apple.

Yellow

At the end of August, Beaky Coot is showing some yellow color on his upper mandible that appears to be emerging from under his frontal shield. This is not an uncommon seasonal variation in coots, but has never been seen with this individual.

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The Spotted Sandpiper

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