COBirders, I asked Peter Pyle (author of "Identification to North American Birds") to look at my pics of the Tufted Duck: http://www.pbase.com/hopko/tufted_duck and to give me his expert opinion on age and sex. It is his conclusion that this bird is a first-year male as previously determined by Larry Semo and Steve Mlodinow. Please see below for Peter's complete response. ------------------- Hi Rachel -
I'd go with first-year male at this point. The swatch of purple in the head looks like replaced feathers rather than a general sheen of adult female. The iris may be too bright for female (certainly so for first-year female, and the tuft is too prominent for SY female). The rects look worn and entirely or mostly juvenal, and I can see the classic notch of a juvenal rectrix in some of the images. The mottled look to the breast and flanks appear to be based on mixed juvenal and formative feathers. So this all adds up to SY male. If it behaves like this species in California it should stick around for the winter and return winter after winter as long as it is alive. I'll be interested to know how it's plumage progresses between now and when it departs in spring, returns next fall, etc. I'm guessing it will become more obviously a male. Peter ------------------- Rachel Hopper Ft. Collins -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
