It’s Albatrossity Monday, and I thought for a second I might have to schedule this one for after dark! Alas, the babes are baby birbs, which are still totally awesome.
So this week I am away in Michigan, hoping to stay out of trouble this time. But we’ll still have OTR. On Tuesday, we have Uncle Eb with part 6 from the Yucatan, on Wednesday we are in Peru with arrive, and then we have one more day in Argentina with way2blue. On Friday, we are treated to Northen Lights in Iceland with Christopher Mathews.
Albatrossity
We’ll take another break before getting to that last of the Tanzania images. I’ve been seeing and photographing lots of recently-hatched birds here in Flyover Country lately, and I know that birds of this age can often be confusing to birders. So here are some shots of young birds, juxtaposed with an adult of the same species. All of the youngsters (left side in each composite photo) were photographed this year, some of the adult birds (at right in the composites) are from previous years.
There are a few generalities to help with IDing a young bird of any species.
- Typically the plumage is duller in color than the adult plumage.
- Typically, the feathers are loose-fitting, particularly the undertail coverts; most northern hemisphere birds will molt in the fall and get a more winter-worthy set of feathers.
- Typically the feathers are quite fresh-looking, without the nicks and gaps that can be seen in adult feathers at this time of year.
- Once they are out of the nest, some young birds are smaller than the adults, especially those we call “precocial” (capable of feeding themselves immediately, like ducks and shorebirds); but most are the same size or even slightly larger than adult birds of the same species.
- Many are instantly recognizable because they follow around and beg from an adult bird.
- If the adult males and females have different plumages, a hatch-year bird will generally look more like the females.
- And finally, as noted previously, many young birds retain a fleshy yellow gape from the nestling stage.
Our first pair is the instantly recognizable Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata). In the young bird at left, note the yellow fleshy gape, loose and sparse feathers (check out that wispy crest!), and generally duller colors than the adult at right. Click here for larger image.
On The Road – Albatrossity – Backyard BabesPost + Comments (15)