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Inspiring and Supporting Photographers of Australian Birds

Little Curlew

Little Curlew (Image ID 39580)
Photographed byLes George on Thu 12th Mar, 2020 and uploaded on Sat 14th Mar, 2020 .
Resolution1800x1351
Viewed498
ID39580
CommentSince posting photos this species due to few in gallery my comments regards age of birds has come into question, as a result I have had to do a bit of research resulting in my being a little more knowledgeable; with some help along the way.
This is a first year bird, technically no longer a juvenile as it would be about 9 months old. The features used to determine the birds age are as follows.
Primaries are in good condition, dark in colour with fine white edges and a slightly broader white tip than that of an adult. These outer edges and tips can be lost with wear.
The length of wing is shorter than tail whereas an adult wing is longer than tail.
Here the longest tertial is shorter than wingtip, at best it would equal wing length.
HANZAB states that young birds have numerically more dark bars in tail than adults with narrower pale sections. This is disputed by Chris Hassell whom has fitted harnesses to these birds for satellite tracking. I can I find any evidence of such within the many shots I have taken.
Leg colour is said to be variable and apparently more so in juveniles, the most common I see are bluish grey. This bird and another I photographed have rather orange legs, particularly the tarsus. The legs also appear to be shedding skin, a previously unknown and unexplained phenomenon to me. Perhaps this is normal.
There are plumage features showing that could be determined as showing this bird to be young though this species is very difficult to age after their second moult and for the most part inseparable from adults.
EquipmentCanon 7D11
Canon 500 f/4 11 USM
LocationCarnarvon, Western Australia
Keywordsimmature, non-breeding plumage/features
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