A bit of ageing and sexing.......

 One of the key skills for trainees is learning the various ways in which we can determine the age and the sex of the birds they ring. It's sometimes very easy--but often very difficult if not almost impossible. And because collectively we are learning all the time, we need to be adaptable and open to new ideas.

Here's a couple of items from our ringing this weekend with new trainee Guy. First --Great Spotted Woodpecker. Sexing at this time of year is particularly easy--look at the back of the neck--if it's red you have a male, there is no red.....

you have a female!!

Yellowhammers can be a tad more tricky--but here we have a couple of bird which are relatively easy to sex--and age....

The large areas of yellow on this bird suggest strongly that it is a male--and the fact that the whole head is NOT yellow so near the breeding season suggests it is a juvenile male fledged last year.

In stark contrast this female has very little yellow on the head--so little in fact that we're pretty sure it is a juvenile female....

This next bird is taking us into the shady area.....

This bird ha more yellow on the head than the juvenile female above--but not as much as the juvenile male. It's also got a yellow throat but very streaky brown breast and flanks. Other details suggested that this was an adult female--easy isn't it.......!!??

Last, not an ageing or sexing feature but one of pure glamour. Stock Doves appear to be doing well around us and this is reflected in the number we are now ringing. From a distance they can look a little drab--but in the hand on a sunny day the patch of feathers on the sides of the neck are truly glamorous! They are iridescent changing colour from green to purple depending on the angle the light hits them.

 

Here you can see the green and purple areas showing as the light hits parts of the neck at different angles.