![\"bald](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/bald-eagle-4244-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBy the time early summer rolls around the plumage of many Bald Eagles has taken a beating.<\/p>\n
This is due in part to their combative and kleptoparasitic lifestyle.\u00a0 Bald Eagles pirate food from other birds when they can and\u00a0often capture their own prey only as a last resort.\u00a0 During winter this results in many skirmishes on the ground and ice and causes significant wear and tear on their tail feathers in particular.\u00a0 Throw in their summer molts and they can look pretty scruffy at times.<\/p>\n
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\u00a01\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n I photographed this sub-adult on June 14, 2013 as it soared overhead in Montana’s Centennial Valley.\u00a0\u00a0Many of the\u00a0tail feathers are worn to the point that only the feather shafts (quills) remain for much of their length.\u00a0 The aerodynamic efficiency of that tail must be\u00a0greatly reduced.\u00a0 Many of the flight feathers are tattered and some are missing.<\/p>\n The annual molt of Bald Eagles begins at the head and neck in the spring but the flight feathers molt later.\u00a0 Tail feathers are molted last in late July and early August and the molt is not complete until late fall.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n A large crop of the same image reveals a little more detail about the condition of the tail especially.\u00a0 This bird had to manage with\u00a0many of\u00a0these tattered feathers for quite\u00a0some time yet.\u00a0 I hope it managed well.<\/p>\n I often see up close the stress and abuse these birds\u00a0put on their tails as they squabble over fish and other food at Farmington during the late\u00a0winter.\u00a0 They often prop their tails against the ice and\/or mud as they fight and maneuver and whenever they’re on the ground their tail is often dragged through the\u00a0substrate.\u00a0 It’s impressive that those feathers hold up as well as they do.<\/p>\n What tales this tail could\u00a0 tell…<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n Another thought:\u00a0 Whenever I see images like this one and look at the position of the feet it makes me wonder – do these birds deliberately hook their curved\u00a0talons into their<\/em> undertail coverts to support their relatively heavy feet in flight and keep them out of the airstream?\u00a0 Makes sense to me and it looks like they do but I really have no idea.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By the time early summer rolls around the plumage of many Bald Eagles has taken a beating.<\/p>\n![\"bald](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/bald-eagle-4244c-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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