Bald Blue Jay!

Dana Hunter

You all did a superb job identifying Ken’s poor molting blue jay in our last UFD extravaganza. I promised you a few more shots of it, and I have at last returned to the intertoobz to deliver.

Image shows a blue jay with a very bald head, in 3/4 profile facing away from the camera. Only its wings are the spectacular blue-jay colors - everything else is either a cloudy gray or missing feathers entirely. Its entire head is bald.
Ken’s bald blue jay. Used with permission.

That’s so sad, rather. It makes me wonder how ridiculous the feathered dinosaurs looked whilst they were molting. Were there times when a T-Rex wasn’t a tyrant king? Would it be standing around with a ludicrously bare head and its wee arms looking more pathetic than predator? Not that it couldn’t deal out plenty of damage even so, but it would’ve looked silly for just a short time.

I love how this one, later in its molting phase, looks like it’s got a rather obvious comb-over.

Image shows a blue jay hanging on to a wire feeder. It's still in molt, but the feathers have begun to grow in on its head.
Not-so-bald jay from Ken. Used with permission.

Birds are wonderful critters. Even when they lose their feathers.

***

Those of you who follow me on Facebook already know I’m having a rough visit from Aunty Flow. I’ve spent most of the weekend whining “Ow,” but I did manage to start getting ahead on Escape posts, so it wasn’t completely unproductive. You’ve got that to look forward to this week! Plus, Pete Moulton sent us some UFDs, too! Plus, of course, other interesting stuff. Stay tuned!

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Bald Blue Jay!

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2 thoughts on “Bald Blue Jay!”

  1. Callinectes
    1

    Many of the predatory dinosaurs may well have had rather bald heads, like vultures do, and for the same reason. Which leaves me wondering is such patches were bare skin or “classic” scales.

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