Our eagles have been leaving small downy feathers in the nest.

This means that their yearlong molt has begun. Molting starts with the loss of the smaller downy feathers, which are the feathers under their gorgeous brown feathers. Downy feathers help keep the eagles warm in all types of weather.

Their outer feathers, which are the brown feathers will start to molt next. These outer feathers keep the eagles warm and dry as they are water repellant. You may notice some feathers on their backs starting to look a bit frayed and may see some sticking out on their backs and chests as these start to molt. When their flight feathers start to molt, they will lose one feather at a time so that they can still fly. They will lose the same opposing feather on the other wing, so that they remain in balance. Once those two new feathers grow in fully, then they will molt another set and so on. This is true for the tail feathers as well, one at a time. Again, it takes a full year to complete a full molt. An eagle has approximately 7000 feathers on their body.

You will notice them preening to keep their feathers waterproof. They will preen most of their feathers on a daily basis. Eagles have a preen gland at the base of their body, where it meets the tail; this is an oil gland they will rub their heads and beaks in to distribute the oil on the feathers as they preen. They preen in the direction of the feather growth from base to tip to keep them zipped up and locked tight. No wonder we have seen them endure all types of weather conditions.