Jack Snipe ageing-further thoughts

Our evening time thermal imaging season is at an end and a few days ago we had our last daytime imaging session at our snipe site. There were still 4 Jack Snipe there and one Common Snipe and we ringed two new Jack Snipe.

We are still learning about ageing this very difficult species but having handled almost 80 new and re-trapped birds this winter, we think we are getting better. We have already posted items looking at leg colour, outer tail feathers and so on and the last two birds we ringed showed some pretty convincing features of a second year ( juvenile ) bird and an adult.

(Ignore the chestnut feather) With imagination(!!) you can just make out a very fine line reaching the tips of the feathers--a juvenile feature

 

 

 

 

This adult bird has broader rounder tail feathers with no faint line reaching the tip

This bird is the juvenile with pale fawn fringes to the median coverts

This is an adult wing with broader edged median coverts, more chestnut in the tertial and back areas and broader black centred inner greater coverts, and secondary feathers with very much longer white points

So--it looks like we have  clear cut juvenile and adult birds BUT--there's a couple of anomalies in the 'adult' bird:- first the outer primary wasn't broad-it was pointed; second the leg colour was green like a juvenile and third if you study the outer 3 or 4 greater coverts they are grey and narrower-just as in a juvenile. This time of year also makes deciding more complex! That's because individuals of any age in this species undergo a pre-breeding moult which means this could be a juvenile bird which has progressed further along the pre-breeding moult than the more obvious juvenile. Because of our indecision we decided to bottle out and sit on the fence. If anyone can guide us we would be very grateful