Specimens of the four Accipiter species from the equatorial forest of DR Congo were studied. It is demonstrated for the first time that annual moult does not systematically follow a strict descendant mode in the African Goshawk. Serial descendant moult could indicate (occasional) multiple brooding, and asymmetrical moult could in part be due to accidental replacement of feathers. Moult was also studied in 51 specimens of the rarely collected Long-tailed Hawk Urotriochis macrourus. Its postjuvenile primary moult is descendant, but the annual primary moult is descendant in about half of the cases only and regular serial descendant moult was found in a few, but different asymmetrical patterns occur in other specimens, probably in relation to accidental replacements, physiological stress or consecutive breeding attempts. The brown juvenile central pair of rectrices is replaced by the piebald new generation of feathers even before the body and primary moults. These feathers probably signal the individual s status as a potential breeder. Annual rectrix replacement is a permanent ongoing process, which is largely asymmetrical, particularly in the central two pairs, resulting in one feather having always a new contrasting aspect, which may help in signalling status