Greetings, COBirders, Just seeking thoughts, confirmation, or plumage/molt information about an immature Red-winged Blackbird that was at one of my feeders & birdbath by itself yesterday. Not like other immature male or female Red-wingeds I've seen before. (At first I thought it might be a female Tri-colored.) Its undersides were darker & more speckled rather than streaked, in a less contrasting gray-&-beige than the more distinctive, bold streaking I'm familiar with in female Red-wingeds, and not like immature males I generally see either. No submoustachial stripe, but it did have a mildly orange wingbar. Yet this one's bill is thicker like a Red-winged rather than more slender like a Tri-colored.
I see Sibley's *Guide to Birds* indicates that some "1st summer male" Red-wingeds resemble Tri-coloreds, and that Red-wingeds intergrade with Bi-coloreds at the edges of the latter's range in California. And Natl Geo's *Complete Birds of North America* warns of difficulty differentiating female Red-wingeds (in California) from female Tri-coloreds...but of course we're not that close to California. Male Red-winged in Formative or "Basic I" Plumage, per *Birds of the World* website? See pics in eBird post, link below. https://ebird.org/checklist/S98150890 Thanks, Marty Wolf NW Colorado Springs -- -- 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] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en?hl=en * All posts should be signed with the poster's full name and city. Include bird species and location in the subject line when appropriate * Join Colorado Field Ornithologists https://cobirds.org/CFO/Membership/ --- 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 view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/cobirds/CADoSYTNF839zT4yQLyKXqs6mBdiK59Q_s_62AjFcT8fT3JC_hg%40mail.gmail.com.
