Thank you Tony for your analysis. I have a few flight photos that add to Tony's analysis of the feathers. They were not very sharp photos so I hesitated posting them but since they may provide useful views of the Scissor-tailed Flycatcher's feathers I have put them on my Birds and Nature <http://birdsandnature.blogspot.com/> blog.
SeEtta Moss Canon City Personal blog @ http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com<http://birdsandnature.blogspot.com/> Blogging for *Birds and Bloom* magazine @ Birds and Blooms blog southcentral/ <http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/category/southcentral/> On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 6:05 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > SeEtta et al.: > > First off, one really needs to know what one means by "juvenile." In > birds, this term is usually restricted to birds in juvenal plumage (= first > basic plumage). Once an individual initiates a post-juvenal molt, it is not > considered juvenile. Of course, detecting that point is virtually > impossible, but knowing that most passerines initiate such a molt in summer > or fall means that by the end of September, few birds are considered > juveniles. There are quite a few exceptions, but Scissor-tailed Flycatcher > (STFL) is not one of them. Which gives me a perfect opportunity to once > again push the importance to birders of owning -- and reading -- Peter > Pyle's Identification Guide to North American Birds, parts I and II (1997 > and 2008; Slate Creek Press -- www.slatecreekpress.com/). Though it's > considered by many "just" a bird-banding guide, the information available > there is very useful to field ID. In fact, everything queried in SeEtta's > post is noted there (in part I; pgs 266-267). [The usual caveats apply -- I > have no financial interest in the publication.] > > The preformative molt in STFL is initiated on or near the breeding grounds, > suspended during migration, and completed on the winter grounds (pg 267; > Molt). Assaying the importance of the presence of strong color in the > axillar region in SeEtta's bird is entirely dependent on how extensive the > part of the molt conducted on the breeding grounds is if the bird were a > first-cycle bird. So, on the sole basis of axillar color, the bird is not > ageable, thus is also not sexable. However, other features in SeEtta's > pictures provide some clues, but also some confusion. > > In the top picture, the apparent outermost primary is growing -- one can > see the whitish sheath at the base of that feather that is characteristic of > growing feathers. The confusion here is engendered by the fact that we > cannot know which primary that is, because part of the wing is hidden behind > the wire and we cannot count feather tips. I suspect that it is *not* the > actual outermost primary (10th primary or p10), because it has a nice > rounded tip, which adult Scissor-tailed Flycatchers do not sport, and > because first-cycle STFLs do not replace their outer primaries (that they > grew in the nest). Adult kingbirds (and STFL is an aberrant kingbird) have > emarginated p10s, that is the inner web is cut away some distance from the > feather tip. Males have considerably deeper emarginations than do females, > thus that one feather can often tell us not only the age, but also the sex > of these birds (see Fig. 181, pg. 267, in Pyle part I). > > Though I believe that SeEtta is right, and the pictured bird is an adult > female (at this time, one cannot discern any ages in the species other than > adult and 1st-cycle) for a number of reasons, with the combination of > flight-feather molt and location (adult STFLs conduct their prebasic molts > on or near the breeding grounds) making for certainty. However, because the > outer primaries have not completed growing, I believe that the outer tail > feathers -- which are the long ones -- have also probably not completed > growth, as those are grown at the same time in most passerines. So, this > bird will get longer-tailed, answering SeEtta's question about the > relatively short tail. > > Sincerely, > > Tony Leukering > Villas, NJ > > > > Topic: Scissor-tailed Flycatcher near Holbrook Reservoir in Otero > Co<http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds/t/33511857cec18b0> > > SeEtta Moss <[email protected]> Sep 25 12:44AM -0600 > ^<http://mail.aol.com/34122-111/aol-6/en-us/Suite.aspx#digest_top> > > > Late this afternoon I found a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher a short > distance > southeast of Holbrook Reservoir. I spotted it a short distance south of > CRFf just west of CR26. It was foraging around the area where there are > irrigation ditches. I observed and photographed it for around 15 > minutes > and got some very interesting photos. I saw it appearing to cast out a > pellet and quickly took photos of this behavior which I had no idea > that a > Scissor-tailed Flycatcher or any other flycatcher species would engage > in. > When I got settled into my motel in Lamar and looked it up on* Birds of > North America* online I found that this species does "occasionally" > cast > pellets composed of insect parts. I got a series of 4 photos of the > bird > engaging in casting a pellet including the last one showing the pellet > falling at the bottom of the pic. I have uploaded these and more photos > of > this bird to my Birds and Nature <http://birdsandnature.blogspot.com/> > blog > > including a discussion of the behavior. > > This Scissor-tailed Flycatcher showed an orangish colored axillary > patch > which I read in BNA is not found in juvenile birds. I think it may be a > female adult or immature with this axillary patch and shorter tail > feathers > than an adult male but I am not that familiar with the aging and sexing > of > this species so would welcome some feedback on this. > > The bird was associating with other flycatcher species--a Cassin's > Kingbird > and several Western Kingbirds. > > SeEtta Moss > Canon City (currently in Lamar) > Personal blog @ > http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com<http://birdsandnature.blogspot.com/> > <http://birdsandnature.blogspot.com/> > > Blogging for *Birds and Blooms* magazine @ Birds and Blooms blog > southcentral/ <http://birdsandbloomsblog.com/category/southcentral/> > > > -- > 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. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. 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