The first comprehensive review of all aspects of the biology of moult,
drawing information from across the literature and in all birds, from
penguins to passerines.
Feathers are amazing structures. All birds need to renew their feathers
periodically, in a process called moult. Because feathers can only be
renewed as a whole, all functions of the plumage are impaired during
moult, and so this process has a crucial impact on most aspects of a
bird's life. Therefore the period of moult is one of the most important
recurring annual events in the life of a bird, together with
reproduction and, for many, migration. Given the major impacts of this
process on birds, moult remains a sorely neglected field of
ornithological research. This book, written by the internationally
renowned ornithologists Lukas Jenni and Raffael Winkler, seeks to
redress this.
Early chapters provide an overview of the functions of plumage. Later,
it moves on to subjects such as plumage maintenance and feather wear,
the two main functions of moult; feather-growth, the physiology,
energetics and control of moult; and how moult affects plumage quality,
structural quality and coloration, and the consequences of this for the
bird. The book concludes with a review of the various solutions
developed by birds to fit moult into their annual cycle.
Complementary to the magnificent Moult and Ageing in European
Passerines by the same authors and packed with color photography
throughout, The Biology of Moult in Birds is the first comprehensive
review of all aspects of the biology of moult, drawing information from
across the literature and in all birds, from penguins to passerines.
