Hi-
We have had a juvenile spotted towhee hanging around the
yard for the past couple of weeks. His tail feathers are
completely missing, but otherwise he seems normal. He is
usually in the company of two other juveniles so ID was
easy but it's kind of disconcerting to watch him hop about
kicking debris around without the telltale tail feathers
there to flip around too. I was wondering what other Tweets
opinions are of the cause of the missing feathers. Was it a
close call with a predator (and should I name him Lucky) or
is it genetic?

Thanks,
Craig Kerns
Lake Forest Park
cekerns at eskimo.com