Juvenile songbirds

摘要

Of all the ID challenges at different seasons, one of the most fascinating, and fleeting, is the juvenile songbird. A few mystery fledglings may be seen from early spring to mid-fall, but late summer is when juveniles are most prevalent and most likely to give us pause.For many birds, juvenile plumage is different from any appearance later in their lives. And songbirds generally show the plumage only for a very short time. Hawks may stay in juvenile plumage for almost their first full year, and some shorebirds may migrate thousands of miles before they begin to molt out of it, but songbirds typically start to molt out of juvenile plumage within a few weeks after leaving the nest — or even within a few days. If we don't get out birding a lot, we may miss seeing the plumage even on our common songbirds.