Chat Moderators > Decorah Eagle Mods Want You To Know -- Eagle Education

Growing Up...Developmental Milestones

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jfrancl:
Thanks for your post T40.  I didn't see what you were referring to but I'll give this a shot.

 Down feathers normally lack a rachis and do not form a vane.  Contour feathers will push out the natal down ahead of it and second down has no tracts as the natal down does have.  The second down follicles aren't evenly distributed but are randomly spaced amongst the tracts of the contour feathers.  So the second down, replaced in molting, is a permanent underlayer of the down throughout the bird's life.  D23 is 24 days old, and at about 3 weeks old, eaglets are largely covered with their second coat of down.  By day 18-22 very little natal down is visible, except on the top of the head.

Down feathers in adult birds is called Definitive Down and vary from thick to restricted distributions.

Hope this helps.

T40cfr403:
ty jf

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