Monday 8 February 2021

Sparrowhawk follow-up

In the rush to add that morning's new photos to Saturday's post I forgot to mention his tail feathers.  Because he was spreading his tail we can see all 12 feathers (rectrices) and it is clear that the second and fifth rectrix on each side is brown whereas the others are grey.  This means this is a second winter bird who has replaced most of his feathers in the first moult last year but has retained a few juvenile feathers.  These will be replaced in the second moult this year.

The same could be seen when he was preening two days earlier although I hadn't really focussed on it then.  You can even see how the juvenile feathers are more worn or frayed, especially at the tips.

The first time I saw this bird as an adult was in August when his new tail feathers were part grown.

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