radrat's Favorites

Age / molt notes by @ppyle: An SY (first-cycle) male and what's interesting is that the gorget has not molted in yet. Usually they do this on the winter grounds but this one will either do it at a stopover location/breeding grounds or may skip it all together and spend its first spring/summer in this (formative) plumage. I have never noticed this before in RUHU. I also just noticed that p8 is growing and p9-p10 are still juvenile. This makes it even cooler! Also the green flecking in the back is an SY character. These may be retained juvenile feathers or replaced green formative feathers or (by the looks of it) both.