Fall 2005 Notes and Highlights for  August 1-14  PAGE 2

• This hatch year male Northern Parula, banded on August 13, proved to be noteworthy because during his prebasic molt, probably just weeks earlier, he actually skipped the outer two greater coverts and replaced the carpal covert but no alula feathers.  While a single molt limit between the carpal and alula feathers is the more expected pattern we look for in warblers, this anomaly is not that uncommon.  Notice the juvenal coverts and alula completely lack any of the bright blue coloration of the molted feathers and have a much more washed out appearance overall.   Ultimately, it was just a nice, easy to see example of the kinds of molt limits banders should be keying in on to make accurate age determinations of birds in the hand.

• While not often thought to be part of a birds molt, soft body parts are periodically shed and renewed such as this tarsal sheath, or podotheca, from a Veery banded this week.  While likely an annual event for all birds, we see it most often in Catharus thrushes and Catbirds.

• As you could probably guess, these fuzzy juvenal undertail coverts belong to a hatching year Northern (Yellow-shafted) Flicker banded this week.

Despite its being in juvenal plumage, we sexed this bird as a male based on its reddish orange juvenal crown feathers and a black juvenal moustache.  Because we don't band many flickers in juvenal plumage, we can't be sure, but a black juvenal moustache in male Northern Flickers may be unusual.  Pyle (1997) in his Identification Guide to North American Birds, states that juvenile males "have a pale orange moustache (even in the Yellow-shafted Group, where the adult [males] have black moustaches).  Thus, juvs can be reliably sexed by reddish-tinged moustaches and crowns."

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• This bird, banded on August 11, had some very specialized features and was only the 23rd individual ever caught of this species at Powdermill, and our first one in three years.

• Despite its 'creeper' like tail (which helps prop the bird when clinging to a vertical surface) and superficial resemblence to swallows, this bird is actually classified with hummingbirds in the order Apodiformes.  This family of birds is adapted for high speed flight and life in the sky, spending more hours in flight each day than any other "land" bird.

• Of course, it's a Chimney Swift!  A hatch year to be exact.

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"I'd rather be flying!"

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• This hatch year male Common Grackle was unusual in that we rarely see them in this mixed juvenal/first basic stage of plumage/molt.  Because juvenal Icterids, in general, have a complete, or nearly complete, first prebasic molt which is achieved by September at the latest, there is only a small window of time in which we can expect to catch them still in juvenal plumage.  Any retention of juvenal wing feathers typically is localized among just a few underwing coverts.

• Finally, we end with a stacked pair of photos for a side by side (or rather top to bottom) comparison of a Blue-winged and "Brewster's" Warbler that were caught together in the same net round on August 14.  The Brewster's Warbler (bottom photo) is the more frequent of the two hybrid possibilities and is distinguished, in this case, from the Blue-winged Warbler (top photo) by the more golden than white wing bars and less yellow underparts and auriculars.

Last Updated on 08/30/05
By Adrienne J. Leppold