Who's a pretty boy then?

 We are nearing the height of the breeding season in the UK, so male birds in particular need to be looking their best in order to successfully attract a mate ( note to self....). I've mentioned in previous posts about males of winter flocking finches and buntings how the male feathers are often tipped with muted colours to reduce the aggression between males when all their energies need to be used in finding food.

So it is that by now most of those muted tips have worn away to expose the breeding colours at the base of the feathers. Here are some recent examples....

You can see that there is no remaining buff tips to any of the head feathers and this bird is now fully ready for breeding. In contrast however, let's look at this male Brambling, which will not be breeding for a couple of months yet because its arctic breeding grounds are still very cold

Here you can see most of the buff tips have not yet worn off except on the very front of the face. By the time the bird reaches Scandinavia it's head will be jet black and ready for action.

This resident male Reed Bunting is also just about there with only a few buff tips not yet worn off, but this adult male Redpoll is ready to breed....