Plummage differences in same birds

[alanjns]

I see Reed Bunting's on a regular basis, I saw a female one this morning that appeared much darker than ones I had seen previously, and it made me question the birds identity. The facial markings are obvious though, and I eventually had to settle on a female Reed Bunting.

My guide book says that they moult from July - November and it got me wondering if the ones I had seen earlier in the year were paler due to ware and tear and that the bird I saw today had maybe moulted a little bit early. I've posted the images to see what your opinions are. The first pic is the bird I saw today, the 2nd, I saw at the begining of March.

Has anyone else had similar problems with plummage differences ?

Cheers,

Alan

[clydebirder]

They both appear to be females, some Reed Bunting females can be remarkably male like. I had an experience with one individual caught during ringing thant I would have happily identified as a male, the fact it had a brood patch meant that it was in fact a female. Some females can be dark in the summer and I have seen a few like your shot from today. Sometimes leucistic birds turn up which have a very pale plumage and look totaly different, I have seen people caught out by these birds trying to turn them in to something rarer

who said bird watching was relaxing

cheers, John

[alanjns]

I think I'm begining to realise that birds are just like us humans, take a group of female caucasians and no two will look alike, apart from some defining characteristics

Cheers,

Alan

[alanjns]

Here is another example of plummage gone mad, taken yesterday - 4th June, that had me foxed.

I wonder if anyone knows what it is just from this photo. I was shooting into direct sunlight so it's very over exposed, but you can see enough detail to have a stab at it....

[alanjns]

It is a Dunnock with all of its feathers ruffled up. Once it had calmed down it was fairly easy to id

[astafjevs]

Alan, You shouldn't have given the game away so soon!

I would never have got that in a hundred years, I'd assumed it was a baby something and my best guess so far was an emu!

[bassist]

Originally Posted by astafjevs

Alan, You shouldn't have given the game away so soon!

I would never have got that in a hundred years, I'd assumed it was a baby something and my best guess so far was an emu!

Wonder if clydebirder would have got that one....!hehe...it was a penguin was it not....!