[Ashley beolens]

We in Milton Keynes have been inundated with waxwing this year (well 2) and a debate has arisen as to the age and sex of the two birds.

On the day I saw them I noted that one of the birds was very much brighter and more heavily marked showing a lot more markings on the primaries, so I noted this down as adult male, the other appeared alot more drab so i assumed 1st winter male/female. However since then more people have seen them and say that there is not as much difference as i first thought, some people even going back 4 times and incurring the wrath of the locals who have now resorted to calling the police!! (strange men parking and using cameras and binoculars, i would assume meant birders and would ask what they were looking at, residents of the area obviously think criminal!!!!).

Now as i am no expert on waxwings I thought i would open our debate to a wider audience and see what others thought.

[Darrell Clegg]

Hi Ashley

Firstly the difference between sexes:

Males - Long crest, broad tail bar, throat patch quite clear cut, six to eight large red waxy tips

Females - Shorter crest, narrow tail bar, less well defined throat patch ie ragged at the base, five to eight smaller red waxy tips.

Now the age:

look at the amount of white on the primary tips of the closed wing. If you can't see any white at all it's a first year. If there's a little it's usually an adult female, though some adult females - like adult males have broad white tips to the primaries.

Use a combination of all of these and you should be able to confidently identify both sex and age - now if only I had some down here to have a look at....!!

[Ashley beolens]

cheers, it would appear that there are a male and femal 1st winter from that description, most people who have been since I went have had 2 first winters so i assume I went on a day when the light was doing strange things.