plucked or moulted?

[actionfinch]

Can anyone tell me how i can tell if a feather has been plucked , by a predator / bird or if it has moulted?
I found a feather that has been what looks like bitten threw , making me think it was something like a fox....
I take it a bird would pull it out .
cheers peeps
lee

[bigdave60dog]

Easy -ish. A bird of prey will grab the feather low down and pluck it out with it`s bill. This leaves a very distinctive kink in the base of the feather. Pretty well all feathers will be like this. A mammal (fox,weasel,cat will bite through the feathers close to the skin, Hence the tips of the feather will be missing. If your feather has neither of these feature it probably has been naturally moulted.
The one proviso with this is that many birds will shed feathers easily when first attacked by a predator hence the clump of feathers indicating where bird has been attacked/killed rather than eaten. In this case there is little indication of what has happened on individual feathers.
Dave