Blog #433 Ursula Loses a Feather

 


Ursula loses a feather, courtesy of Cindy Sedlacek.


A feather shed from Ursula’s wing floats on the breeze over Salt Point. It is a lovely cinnamon-brown barring giving it a striped appearance. Feathers, like hair and 



fingernails, are non-living structures arising from keratin, a living tissue. But unlike other keratinous structures, such as claws, feathers do not undergo continual growth.


Floating to earth on the gentle breeze, courtesy of Cindy Sedlacek.


Once fully formed, feathers are dead structures in which damaged parts cannot be repaired. They deteriorate mainly through the actions of physical wear, sunlight, and feather parasites and can only be replaced by pushing out the old feather quill. Most birds molt, or drop feathers and regrow new ones about once a year, but there are many different molting strategies. Some types of birds. like Canada Geese, drop all of their flight feathers all at once, rendering them flightless—a risky strategy only done on predator-free islands. The benefit of this molting strategy is that the birds get molting out of the way all at once.


Courtesy of Cornell Lab Bird Cams.


Since Ospreys must be able to fish daily all year, they don’t have the luxury of being flightless. Adult Ospreys replace their flight feathers once a year in a “molt wave” or 


Courtesy of Cornell Lab Bird Cams.


“Staffelmauser.” Ospreys drop one or several primaries on a side and start regrowing a 

feather to replace it. Once these new feathers get fairly long, the next feather is dropped. This wave of molting means that the airfoil of the birds’ wings is never too aerodynamically compromised by having huge gaps in their wings.


Female with several feathers growing in, one on each side, courtesy of Cornell Lab Bird Cam.


Growing a new Osprey feather is energetically expensive and takes about a month to grow. Therefore, Ospreys skip molting during the energetically-stressful times of migrating and breeding. Typically, they molt while leisurely overwintering, and in the summer just after breeding. However, if a feather is lost, it is replaced immediately.


Staffelmauser molting enables Ospreys to always have a full complement of flight feathers which are from three generations of feathers—worn ones with frayed edges about a year old; fresh new feathers with crisp, unworn edges; and half-grown feathers replacing lost ones. 


Eyes to the sky!

Candace


Candace E. Cornell 

Friends of Salt Point, Lansing, NY

Cayuga Lake Osprey Network

cec222@gmail.com

Reminder: The possession of feathers and other parts of native North American birds without a permit is prohibited by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). This protects wild birds by preventing their killing by collectors and the commercial trade in their feathers, and extends to all feathers, regardless of how they were obtained. There is no exemption for molted feathers or those taken from road- or window-killed birds.


Guest Photographer:

Cynthia Sedlacek, musician and Director of Data Administration and Reporting at Cornell University, is a surprising artistic talent. Cynthia’s affection and admiration for raptors are evident in her exciting photographs primarily of Ospreys nesting around Cayuga Lake and the red-tailed hawks of the Cornell Campus. Her photographs of local Ospreys are incomparable as she captures their essence, their jizz, and their inner bird. From the hard-to-see nestlings to the fast-flying adults, Cindy goes beyond the pale to catch all aspects of Osprey life in the Cayuga Basin. “My camera allows me to capture their beauty in many ways that the human eye can’t see,” she says, “like their spectacular wing positions and detailed feather patterns.” Cindy and her husband Karel are also avid nest monitors for the Cayuga Lake Osprey Network and video stream footage of the campus hawks.



EYES TO THE SKY!



WATCH!

Salt Point Osprey Nest Cam


READ!

 On Osprey Time: Ospreys of the Finger Lakes


VISIT!

Cayuga Lake Osprey Trail Nests Driving Tour

Complete Cayuga Lake Osprey Trail



HELP PROTECT OSPREYS:

•Stay 300 feet away from nests during the breeding season. If the Osprey vocalizes, you are too close! Back off Immediately.

•Carry binoculars to view wildlife from afar.

•Help keep local waters clean, healthy, and safe.

•Recycle used fishing lines, twine, and nets, which can kill Osprey.

•Join the Cayuga Osprey Network and volunteer to help monitor Osprey nests: cec222@gmail.com.

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