Molting birds, like this Hairy Woodpecker, require high-protein foods.

Have you noticed any feathers in your yard? Many of our backyard birds are beginning their biggest transformation of the year, losing and replacing their feathers in a process known as molting. You can play an important role in helping birds during this time.

Each summer, birds replace some (partial molt) or all (full molt) of their feathers. Now, many of our backyard feeder birds are in this feather-transition process. Distinguishing birds that are molting from those that are not can be difficult. Though some birds may lose patches of feathers and appear “balding,” feather loss and replacement for most birds is far less noticeable.

Molting is a complicated process that requires a lot of energy and may take up to eight weeks to complete. Feathers are made of more than 90 percent protein, primarily keratins, so every molting bird needs extra proteins to grow strong feathers for proper flight and effective insulation until next year’s molt.

A recent study demonstrated that bird feeding provides a direct nutritional benefit that supports quality feather growth. Molting periods are important times for us to provide a consistent source of food at feeders, especially high protein foods such as mealworms, nyjer seeds, peanuts, Bark Butter foods and seed blends with tree nuts to ensure that your birds have a reliable source of protein to support feather replacement.

Article courtesy of Wild Birds Unlimited (http://www.wbu.com)