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Aberrant Magpie, Hong Kong (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter MKinHK
- Start date
I don't see Magpies here (or very, very rarely) Mike, but that really reminds me of what happens to young male Blackbirds as they're moulting out their juvenile brown plumage, the head seems to be the last thing to change.
I'm not sure what young Magpies look like though, so probably way off the mark, as usual.
I'm not sure what young Magpies look like though, so probably way off the mark, as usual.
nartreb
Speak softly and carry a long lens
Eurasian:
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=2342&Bird_Image_ID=26574
I also happened to find Australian, which seems to show it's a genus-wide phenomenon:
https://eric-lindgren.photoshelter.com/image/I0000b_lQgalNEwE
http://orientalbirdimages.org/search.php?Bird_ID=2342&Bird_Image_ID=26574
I also happened to find Australian, which seems to show it's a genus-wide phenomenon:
https://eric-lindgren.photoshelter.com/image/I0000b_lQgalNEwE
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
Australian "Magpies' are not magpies at all, unrelated :t:
MKinHK
Mike Kilburn
Here's a pic of nestling magpie. They typically have black heads.
With the greatest of respect to Nartreb and the photographer you link to, I think the bird depicted in that shot also has some sort of colour aberration - I can't see features that make it a juvenile.
Cheers
Mike
With the greatest of respect to Nartreb and the photographer you link to, I think the bird depicted in that shot also has some sort of colour aberration - I can't see features that make it a juvenile.
Cheers
Mike
Welsh Peregrine
Well-known member
Haven't had time to check it out, but I seem to recall lack of a brownish immature plumage is a characteristic of the crow family (Corvidae) - therefore it must be some kind of variant plumage.
Nutcracker
Stop Brexit!
Not incompatible. MKinHK's linked Magpie photo is newly fledged, so the juvenile feathers are very fresh; while the bird in the original query is a couple of months older, moulting out its old juv feathers and getting new adult ones. The first set of feathers on juveniles are effectively 'temporary use only', so less tough and resilient than adult feathers produced later, so wear and fade more than adult feathers - there can be a striking contrast between the last faded, old, worn-out juv feathers and the glossy new adult feathers.
wolfbirder
Well-known member
I saw a brown and white Magpie in Wolverhampton a few months back. It was one of a pair, clearly some colour aberration had gone on there, I even pulled over to double check it wasn't something rarer.
There was not a hint of black in the plumage at all, it was white where it was supposed to be white, and mid-brown where it was supposed to be black.
There was not a hint of black in the plumage at all, it was white where it was supposed to be white, and mid-brown where it was supposed to be black.
wolfbirder
Well-known member
Would be interested to see that.
Shame I haven't got a camera. It was a truly bizarre bird.
Shame I haven't got a camera. It was a truly bizarre bird.
Andy Adcock
Worst person on Birdforum
It could be mild leucism where the pigment is much reduced rather than absent?
A
A
Ross McGregor
Well-known member
IMO, this bird is in moult. All the greater coverts look new, but there a few old and new primary coverts visible. It probably still hasn't replaced it's inner primary feathers. I think this bird has moulted most of its old body feathers, but has not yet moulted the old feathers on it's head. There seem to be new feathers showing around the base of the bill and the eye. The old feathers on it's head are very worn and bleached by the sun (like the old primary coverts), so appear brown, particularly in contrast to the new, darker, feathers on the upper breast. Hence the odd appearance.
Ross McGregor
Well-known member
There is a paper here that might be useful
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1976.tb03514.x/full
Which states, "The patterns of the relative seasonal timing of the start and finish of moult in each tract were most similar in the three Corvus species, in which moult in the whole plumage began in the primary tract and finished in tracts on the body; P. pica differed principally in the extended growth of the secondary tract"
Ross
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1474-919X.1976.tb03514.x/full
Which states, "The patterns of the relative seasonal timing of the start and finish of moult in each tract were most similar in the three Corvus species, in which moult in the whole plumage began in the primary tract and finished in tracts on the body; P. pica differed principally in the extended growth of the secondary tract"
Ross
