[TN-Bird] Re: Need Help With ID, Please
- From: Scott Somershoe <ssomershoe@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: TN-birds <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 25 Jun 2014 08:54:11 -0500
Piping in late here, but I see this as a very worn adult Eastern Phoebe.
Admittedly, I've never seen a phoebe this brown before, but there's a
likely reason for this. A juvenile bird would have a much fresher plumage,
very clean and sharp feathers, and at this time of year, buffy tips to the
primary and greater coverts. And depending on how young the bird is, a
little gape may be present.
This bird has very uniform worn plumage, except for the gray patch on the
back, which is likely freshly molted in feathers. Adult Eastern Phoebe's
(like most adult flycatchers) do a complete molt of all feathers in summer
and have no molt in winter, thus this bird is likely starting a complete
molt. Knowing this about the molt of Phoebe's, we can then be pretty
certain that the weathered, worn, and faded feathers were grown last summer
and thus they have seen nearly a full year of sun and rain. Hatching year
Phoebe's do a partial molt in summer, i.e. not replacing every feather like
adults.
Feathers, in all species, fade with time, and in this case, gray and black
feathers turn more brown with exposure to the sun and elements. A similar
example of feather wear and fading many of you may be familiar with is with
the golden eagles I've shown during recent presentations and have posted on
the golden eagle project page on the Tennessee's Watchable Wildlife web
site. New golden eagle feathers are deep brown to chocolate colored, while
old feathers are faded and almost tan and very worn and shredded. Molt in
birds and ageing feathers, and subsequently ageing individual birds this
way, is pretty neat stuff, but it can make your head spin!
Very interesting bird and nice demonstration of age and molt! Nice thread.
Cheers,
Scott Somershoe
On Tue, Jun 24, 2014 at 10:52 PM, Michael Todd <birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
> I see this as a very worn adult Eastern Phoebe, feathers in much too bad a
> shape to be this years hatch. Definitely not your typical mental image of a
> Phoebe, I don't see anything structurally though to give me a problem with
> it being a Phoebe. Adult phoebes can look really rough this time of year,
> before the post-breeding molt starts.
>
> Good Birding!
>
> Mike Todd
> McKenzie, TN
> birder1@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> www.pbase.com/mctodd
>
>
> On Tuesday, June 24, 2014 10:08 PM, Charles Crawford <cr4d@xxxxxxx>
> wrote:
>
>
> I’m going with Eastern Phoebe, Juv.
> Crossley say juv. are browner.
>
> Charlie
> Henderson KY
>
>
> On Jun 24, 2014, at 9:17 PM, kristybaker@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>
> Hello,
>
> We seen this bird on Sunday at Murfree Springs in Murfreesboro. When I
> first caught the bird out of the corner of my eye, I thought it was the
> Flycatcher that is always in that area. When I actually turned to look at
> it, I thought maybe it might be a Phoebe. (No tail wagging.)I moved
> quickly because there was a nesting titmouse trying to feed its young and I
> was getting a huge scolding for just stopping. When I look at the pictures
> now, I don't know what it is. The color seems wrong. The gray spot - is
> this just worn feathers?? Thanks for your help.
>
> http://www.pbase.com/kristybaker/image/156275439
>
> http://www.pbase.com/kristybaker/image/156275438
>
> Kristy Baker
> Rockvale, TN
> Rutherford County
> www.pbase.com/kristybaker
>
>
>
>
>
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