Some adult Blue Jays also lose all their head feathers in their late summer molt. The licensed education Blue Jay I had for many years lost all its head feathers every single fall for 8 years. It was housed next to another jay who never lost all its head feathers during that same molt, so the molt pattern seems to have quite a bit of individual variation.
Laura Erickson Duluth, MN NOTE address change: [email protected] Producer, "For the Birds" radio program <http://www.lauraerickson.com/> There is symbolic as well as actual beauty in the migration of birds. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature--the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after the winter. --Rachel Carson
