Age of this Spanish Sparrow? (1 Viewer)

[Gonçalo Elias]

Hi all,

While browsing on flickr I found this picture of an odd Spanish Sparrow taken in Madeira in June 2017 by Gabriel Moreira.

https://flic.kr/p/VGGzvu

I am trying to figure out the age of this bird. The description says it's a young one.

At first sight it could indeed be a young doing a full post-juvenile moult into fresh post-juvenile plumage, however there's something puzzling me: the black bill. As far as I know, juveniles don't have a black bill. Only adult males do.

Could it be a male doing its full post-breeding moult? The black feathers that can be seen on the breast are old worn ones and the same would apply to all feathers on the upperparts. The pale feathers on the head are fresh ones and the brown is not visible at this stage. The bill still retains the black colour from the breeding season and hasn't faded yet.

Any opinions are welcome.

 

[Butty]

It's got a mixture of (female-type) juvenile plumage and adult male plumage. Thus it's certainly a 1st-year male moulting from juvenile to adult (i.e. in post-juvenile moult). The black underpart feathers, and brightly-coloured ones on the upperparts, are fresh, not old and worn. The flight-feathers and tail look old (i.e. juvenile). It's already got the adult bill colour: I don't know whether that's usual or not, but it doesn't seem particularly remarkable.

 

[Rotherbirder]

I'm no expert by any means but, isn't it a bit early for the bird to be an adult in full post-breeding moult (usually July/August)? Also, the black feathers on the upper breast look quite fresh, with pale fringes clearly visible. All but 3 greater coverts also look fresh. Interesting indeed ...

I'll wait 'til a ringer steps up!

RB

Edit: Sorry, post overlapped with that of Butty, with whom I'm tempted to agree.

 

[Gonçalo Elias]

Thanks both for the replies.

@Butty: you write "It's already got the adult bill colour: I don't know whether that's usual or not, but it doesn't seem particularly remarkable." - the thing is that non-breeding males don't have a black bill. They have a yellow bill (from mid-summer onwards) and I dont think a juvenile male doing a post-juvenile moult gets a black bill at this time of year. It would only have the black bill in the following year.

@Rotherbirder: "isn't it a bit early for the bird to be an adult in full post-breeding moult (usually July/August)?" - I thought about that, but please not this is in Madeira which lies much further south and so breeding can take place earlier. In the Canary islands they start nest building in November-December (here in mainland Portugal they start in March) so it can happen that in Madeira the moult begins in June.

 

[Butty]

non-breeding males don't have a black bill

I can't comment further. Maybe it's especially eager to get breeding?! Perhaps, if the breeding season is especially long and conditions are conducive, males might even breed in the season of their hatching? - weirder things happen. Or maybe some males do get breeding bill-colour much earlier than is typical. Pass. But, nevertheless, it has to be in post-juvenile moult.

 

[Butty]

Looking again at this bird, I'm now wondering if in fact the heady and body are largely adult - with, especially, (all?) the head and some (or much?) of the underparts being fresh adult. Wing-coverts might even be old/worn. Tail and flight-feathers do look old and juvvy though, so they might be retained from previous year. If that's right, this would be a 1-year-old in post-breeding moult - and hence the black bill - though that would still leave me a bit confused about why the underparts are as they are.

 

[Gonçalo Elias]

I would be surprised to see retained feathers, because sparrows do a complete post-juv moult.
But of course odd cases do exist.

 

[Butty]

I would be surprised to see retained feathers, because sparrows do a complete post-juv moult.

Sure... so, if that's the case, and my 3rd post (#6) is (broadly) correct, it would be an unageable adult in post-breeding moult with head and some other plumage new, and tail and flight-feathers not yet moulted.

 

[Gonçalo Elias]

Yes that's my feeling too. I just posted it here to see if there were other possibilities.
Thank you for your contribution.