The gorgeous, eye-catching plumage you saw in spring and for most of summer has begun to fade and look tattered from being bleached by sunlight, scraped against tree limbs and scarred by dust and gravel. Or a downy woodpecker in Southeast Texas that makes untold trips to a nest inside a tree hole excavated just underneath a vertically leaning limb. When juvenile birds leave the nest, they look even sloppier than worn adults. Yet the ratty plumage will change by October as adult birds complete a process called molt, discarding their worn-out feathers and replacing them with a new coat.
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