|
Katie requested information on when juvenile Golden
Whistlers lose their rufous wing patches. The Bird in the Hand item on the
species by H. J. de S (John) Disney published in the Australian Bird Bander Vol
14 No. 3 September 1976 indicates that the rufous patch on the secondaries is
lost by the end of the first year, therefore birds with rufous secondries are
first year birds. The bird that katie saw would have
been a first year bird and not a juvenile as juveniles are deep rufous
on the body and head. A juvenile is a bird that is still in the plumage
which it possessed at fledging.
Greg
|
