Thanks for posting this Doug, it is very interesting to hear what Peter had to say about it. I do see what you're talking about though with the slight blueish tinge in the nape area. Good point regarding bid info as well
Herb On Wed, Feb 12, 2020 at 8:16 PM Doug Gochfeld <[email protected]> wrote: > While the specifics below directly pertain to one individual vagrant, the > overall take home message should be valuable to anybody who tries to > classify natural organisms. > > This winter’s incursion of Painted Buntings into the region has brought > delight to many New York birders. All three of the lingering Long Island > individuals are green. The bunting that was found at Brooklyn Bridge Park > by Heather Wolf in late December has been seen by hundreds of people at > this point, and eBirded perhaps a couple of hundred times. > > Of those reports, many have comments regarding the age or sex of the bird, > and of these, a not-insignificant portion refer to the bird with certainty > as a female and a an immature male, virtually none of which have any > discussion as to why it is being classified as such. > > In January, I E-Mailed Peter Pyle some photos, to see if he could make > sense of it. He sent me a detailed analysis, which I have pasted as the > bottom of this E-Mail, but the concise version is this: *The bird IS an > immature (hatched in 2019). It CANNOT, in its current plumage, be visually > identified to sex*, and it seems most likely that it is a young male (as > so many vagrants are) if he had to guess. > > On that note, and given that eBird reports become a part of the permanent > record, it would be great if the comments, when people look back years from > now, were not just consistent, but accurate. Rather than having the very > careful and earnest eBird moderators (a wholly volunteer and typically > thankless job), in this case Sean and Shane, whom many of you know, reach > out to every single person who writes “female” or "_ male" in the comments, > it would be great if those reporting the bird going forward make comments > that reflect only the highest level of certainty, rather than assumptions > or guesswork. Also, if you have gone to see the bunting, please also check > your prior observations to see if your comments can use some amending. > > > In the meantime, the young Painted Bunting does indeed continue at > Brooklyn Bridge Park, seemingly becoming more acclimated to passers by as > time goes on. Here are some photos and video of it from a couple of days > ago, where it seems, though it may be my imagination, that there are some > brighter green feathers and a bluish tinge starting to appear around the > nape: > > https://ebird.org/checklist/S64302675 > > > *Full text from Peter Pyle:* > > > > > *"So you are correct, this is a first-winter bird (SY now). The rectrices > have been replaced during the preformative molt, so shape and condition > of these are no longer useful for ageing. However, you can see molt limits > in the remiges indicating an "eccentric" preformative molt, which > confirms SY. It looks like p5-p9 and s5-s9 or s6-s9 have been replaced > leaving p1-p4 and s1-s4 or s1-s5 as juvenile. I can't quite decide on s5 in > the photos you sent but the limit is easiest to see on image 3563 between > the green tertials/s6 and the browner s1-s4. The limit in the primaries > is also subtle here but seems to be between p4 and p5.So, reliable sexing > in formative plumage is not really possible, but its brightness and > the relatively big bill suggests male to me. If it winters, keep an eye out > for some blue and/or red featherd to come in within the next 4 > months. These would probably be accidentally lost and replaced feathers > rather than molt. If it gets away without replacing any feathers like this, > best to leave it as sex unknown.Hope this helps and feel free to re-post > these comments."* > > Good Birding, > -Doug Gochfeld. Brooklyn, NY. > -- > *NYSbirds-L List Info:* > Welcome and Basics <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm> > Rules and Information <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm> > Subscribe, Configuration and Leave > <http://www.northeastbirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> > *Archives:* > The Mail Archive > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> > Surfbirds <http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L> > ABA <http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01> > *Please submit your observations to **eBird* > <http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>*!* > -- > -- *HERB SMITH* * artist* *www.herbsmithart.com <http://www.herbsmithart.com>* -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES.htm http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L 3) http://birding.aba.org/maillist/NY01 Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
