Sunday, May 20, 2012

A Lighter Shade of Pale

Over the years I have been acquiring better skills at identifying juveniles of the harder backyard species.  Oh sure, there is begging behavior that gives things away.  But a pro would know the field marks.  Some, like Titmice and Chickadees, continue to escape me.  I will eventually get the hang of it.  One that's almost there for me is the Mourning Dove.  And this evening I studied this group of four doves to see if I could puzzle out a juvenile, if one was present.  I am fairly certain there's at least one younger bird here.  But golly, it's a tricky problem.  One advisor tell me to look for birds that are mpore buff than gray.  One manual, in contrast, advises to look for darker, scalier birds. (!)  Well, there's no clearly darker, scalier bird here.  And maybe the second bird from left is lighter in breast, but that seems like a wishful think for me.  Conclusion.  I have more to learn: these four all look pretty much alike.  Good thing to have more yet to learn even of common birds.

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