Hi COBirders, I was asked the other day to elaborate about seeing the “rough-wing” on a Northern Rough-winged Swallow. This is one of those species names that only becomes obvious when you have the bird in the hand. (fortunately captured alive - and not shot and stuffed). On the outer edge of the last primary flight feather (P9), the tiny barbs show a “serration” pattern, that also distinguishes age and sex. On the adult male the fine comb-tooth barbs (hence “rough-wing”) angle downwards, and in the adult female, they angle upwards. On juv males the barbs point about straight-out, and the juv female they are hardly there at all. Why, or what effect this might have on drag in flight I have no idea, but the the wing under magnification surely shows it’s “rough” edge. ( Peter Pyle, “Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part 1”, Figure 208, page 326.)
Today was cool and drizzly, with a low ceiling, and slight breeze, so miserable for me, but GREAT for migration! I had many waves of mixed migrants come through and passing overhead. AIt was a real good day of banding for a “corridor” station rather than a migrant trap. Biggest numbers were of Yellow Warbler (12) and Com Yellowthroat (9). Probably the best birds were a Least Flycatcher, and my 5th N Waterthrush this spring. Also seen - Olive-sided Flycatcher, and the Virginia’s Rail continues to call nearby. Banded today: Dusky Flycatcher 2 Least Flycatcher Warbling Vireo 3 House Wren Gray Catbird Swainson’s Thrush 2 (FOS) N Waterthrush Yellow Warbler 12 Orange-crowned Warbler Com Yellowthroat 9 Myrtle Yellow-rumped Warbler MacGillivray’s Warbler Green-tailed Towhee Lincoln’s Sparrow 2 Red-winged Blackbird 2 Brown-headed Cowbird Total birds today, 41 - My best spring day ever at CSR, also my last day banding at CSR this spring. :( Happy Migration, Steve Brown Colorado Springs -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/C25C2C0A-B194-49AF-840B-278512A03F2A%40gmail.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
