Gerrit Vyn / Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) male standing on snow covered ground, vocalising in spring courtship. Males retain the white body plumage of winter plumage and molt the head and neck feathers to th...

Gerrit Vyn / Aerial view of large flock of molting Brant. These geese have found refuge on a shallow lake. During their summer moult the geese are flightless. The Teshekpuk Lake area is the most important goose m...

Flip Nicklin / Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) whale, hundreds swim and molt in freshwater shallows, Northwest Territories, Canada

Flip Nicklin / Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) whale, hundreds swim and molt in freshwater shallows, Northwest Territories, Canada

Gerrit Vyn / Brant geese (Branta bernicla) unable to fly during molt, Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, Alaska. July.

Suzi Eszterhas / Northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) hauled out on shore, mid molt, West San Benitos Island, Baja California, Mexico.

Pascal Pittorino / Cicada (Lyristes plebejus) after molt, close up of portrait, Var, Provence, France, July.

Pascal Pittorino / Cicada (Lyristes plebejus) drying after molt, Var, Provence, France, July.

Jan Hamrsky / Skimmer dragonfly nymph (Sympetrum vulgatum) bright due to recent molt, Europe, controlled conditions

Jan Hamrsky / Skimmer dragonfly nymph (Sympetrum vulgatum) bright due to recent molt, Europe, controlled conditions

Jan Hamrsky / Skimmer dragonfly nymph (Sympetrum vulgatum) bright due to recent molt, Europe, controlled conditions

Doug Perrine / Hawaiian monk seal (Monachus schauinslandi) resting on beach while shedding skin and fur during annual molt or moult, Black-footed albatrosses, (Phoebastria nigripes) in background, East Island, Fre...

D. Parer & E. Parer-Cook / Little Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor) chick with ticks during molt, Phillip Island, Australia

Piotr Naskrecki / Katydid (Tympanoptera sp) undergoing its final molt, New Britain, Papua New Guinea

Gerrit Vyn / Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) male standing on snow covered ground, vocalising in spring courtship. Males retain the white body plumage of winter plumage and molt the head and neck feathers to th...

Gerrit Vyn / Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) male standing on snow covered ground, in spring. Males retain the white body plumage of winter plumage and molt the head and neck feathers to the russet brown summer...

Gerrit Vyn / Flock of White Fronted Geese (Anser albifrons) in molt, on water, Teshekpuk Lake, Alaska, USA, July.

Pete Oxford / Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) showing 'blue eye' indicating animal is about to molt, Little St. Simon's Island, Georgia

Pete Oxford / Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus) showing 'blue eye' indicating animal is about to molt, Little St. Simon's Island, Georgia

Gerrit Vyn / Aerial view of a large flock of Brant geese (Branta bernicla) molting on a shallow lake in the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, July. Up to 1/3 of the Brant that moult in the Pacific flyway are threatened...

Gerrit Vyn / Flock of molting Brant's geese (Branta bernicla) in July. During this vulnerable period in their life-cycle, they are unable to fly. Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, Alaska, USA

Gerrit Vyn / Juvenile Double-striped Thick-knee (Burhinus bistriatus) nearing completion of its molt into adult plumage. Veracruz, Mexico

Matthias Breiter / Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) female starting to molt, Banks Island, Canada

Matthias Breiter / Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) male starting to molt into summer plumage, Banks Island, Canada

Matthias Breiter / Willow Ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus) male starting to molt into summer plumage, Banks Island, Canada

Steven Kazlowski / Snow geese (Chen caerulescens) adults and goslings during summer molt, near the Colville River delta, Beaufort Sea, Arctic Alaska

Piotr Naskrecki / Raspy Cricket (Gryllacrididae) completing its final molt, Guyana

Piotr Naskrecki / Katydid (Teleutias sp) during its final molt, Guyana, sequence 3 of 3

Piotr Naskrecki / Katydid (Teleutias sp) during its final molt, Guyana, sequence 2 of 3

Piotr Naskrecki / Katydid (Teleutias sp) during its final molt, Guyana, sequence 1 of 3

Flip Nicklin / Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) whale pod molt in freshwater shallows, Northwest Territory, Canada

Flip Nicklin / Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) whale pod molt in freshwater shallows, Northwest Territory, Canada

Michael Durham / Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui) butterfly showing caterpillar preparing to molt off its skin to reveal its chrysalis, North America

Piotr Naskrecki / True Bug (Tomaspis sp) undergoing final molt in foamy froth in which is has spent its entire larval development, Costa Rica

Piotr Naskrecki / Emerald Cicada (Zamara smaragdina) male completing its final molt, Costa Rica

Piotr Naskrecki / Emerald Cicada (Zamara smaragdina) male after completing its final molt, Costa Rica

Piotr Naskrecki / Emerald Cicada (Zamara smaragdina) male completes its final molt, Costa Rica

Piotr Naskrecki / Katydid (Ectemna dumicola) during its final molt, Costa Rica

Flip Nicklin / Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) whale, hundreds swim and molt in freshwater shallows, Northwest Territories, Canada

Pete Oxford / Boa Constrictor (Boa constrictor) preparing to molt, Machalilla National Park, Ecuador

Tui De Roy / Southern Elephant Seal (Mirounga leonina) bull coming ashore to molt, Perseverance Harbour, Campbell Island, New Zealand

Tui De Roy / Svalbard Reindeer (Rangifer tarandus platyrhynchus) bull in velvet and summer molt, Ny-Alesund, Spitsbergen Island, Svalbard Archipelago, Norwegian Arctic

Flip Nicklin / Beluga (Delphinapterus leucas) hundreds swim and molt in freshwater shallows, Northwest Territories, Canada

D. Parer & E. Parer-Cook / Little Blue Penguin (Eudyptula minor) chick with ticks during molt, Phillip Island, Australia

Piotr Naskrecki / Grasshopper (Acrididae) undergoing its final molt, Suriname

Hiroya Minakuchi / Gentoo Penguin (Pygoscelis papua) chick in molt, Antarctic Peninsula, Antarctica

Frederique Olivier / African penguins (Spheniscus demersus) resting on rocks, in molt, Betty's Bay nature reserve, South Africa, December.