“...while her caretakers waited in vain for a new beak to grow”
You might as well wait around for your amputated foot to grow back. What’s up with these people?
For those of you who have e-mailed me wondering if it's true that an eagle goes into seclusion, plucks all of its feathers, sheds its beak and talons, and then renews itself, is a myth. An eagle's beak and talons grow continuously, because they are made of keratin, the same substance as our hair and fingernails. Eagles molt in patches, taking almost half a year to replace feathers, starting with the head and working downward. Not all feathers are replaced in a given molt. An eagle without feathers, talons, and a beak would die of starvation and exposure."