Pin Feather

My title this time is misleading. I posted this quickly without a description, blipfoto hit it's high usage point and the subsequent write up got lost somewhere in t' interland. Some hours and a snooze later, I'm back.

This is indeed a Jay's feather, to be correct it is, in fact, either an alula or primary covert. The true pin or blood feather is a tiny pointed feather that sits on the elbow of the wing. In this case, 'pin' refers to fact that these beautiful black and blue barred feathers are highly sought after in the millinery and craft trades and also by fishermen for fly tying.

I found this one on a walk today. It's the beginning of the moulting season so many birds are starting to look somewhat untidy. Some strip their old feathers to line their nests, others let them scatter in the wind, but all become vulnerable when they loose their flight feathers. It's a process that takes a great deal of energy and takes place when high nutrient foods, mainly insects, are readily available.
So, if you see tatty birds around, unless they are very bald, they aren't ill.

Chickens, on the other hand, moult every second year. They stop laying before their moult and can often look as if they've been through a plucking machine! That's the time to buy them cheaply from an egg producer who prefers to keep only young productive birds.