Ruff. Obviously.... (1 Viewer)

There has been a little bit of discussion recently regarding the plumage variations of Ruff, and I came across these two images whilst having a bit of a photo sort-out.

They were both taken at Oare Marshes, the dark one on June 19th and the white one on July 15th this year.

Not only is the plumage completely different, but so is the bill and leg colour too!!. Not quite sure what happened to the scaly-looking face that the dark one has??

Reason for posting is that I thought others might be interested in the variations in appearance, but if anyone has any thoughts on the age, stage of moulting or sex of these two birds I would be interested.

Quite lucky that general shape and behaviour make them identifiable as Ruff, otherwise you could be forgiven for thinking that you're looking at two completely different species....


Rgds... Ruby

Hi Ruby,

The ruff at Oare have been quite an eye opener. I was there a week or so back and there were a couple of complete beginners there who were asking me id questions (land of the blind etc etc). They just couldn't believe that all these completely different birds I was pointing out were the same species.

Hi Ruby,

They're both adult males moulting out of breeding plumage, the white one obviously (what with the later date) a bit further into the moult, the dark one very nearly full (only a feather or two dropped so far, to give the untidiness on the mid-breast).

The 'scaly' bit around the face is shown by all male Ruffs in full breeding plumage; don't know why they have it but perhaps facial protection for when they're fighting with other males. The white one has already lost this with new feathers growing in, the dark one still has it.

The completely full ruff is only present for a very short time, at most a month between mid May and mid June, probably often less; they only need it for display and start to get rid of it as soon as that is done. It starts to appear in April, and the last vestiges gone by the end of July or thereabouts.

Female Ruffs ('Reeves'), though variable in plumage darkness, never show this level of extreme; they're also markedly smaller, Wood Sandpiper size, compared to the Redshank-size males.

Michael

To add to Michael's comment. The first birds that arrived (I saw them on 19th and 22nd June) still had virtually full ruffs.

Thanks Guys,

Interesting birds, aren't they...

In addition to the 2 fairly extreme individuals here, I have seen quite a few this year which seem to be just about every colour combination of brown, black, ginger etc. Last time I was at Oare (about July 20th) there were quite a few birds about and no two alike...

I'm hoping to go down there tomorrow, so look forward to seeing what's about....

Ruby said:

I'm hoping to go down there tomorrow, so look forward to seeing what's about....

Click to expand...

When were you thinking of going - I was thinking of slipping over for a couple of hours myself.

Hi Robin,

I think high-tide is about 10:00am, so I was aiming to get there for about 08:00 and probably stay until about 12:00. I think the weather forecast is promising....

Be good if we could meet up....

I'll do my best - I was certainly thinking of the morning high tide (which I reckon is about 10:00 too).

OK Robin - look forward to (hopefully) seeing you there....

I drive a silver Audi estate, so if you see one of those - chances are I'll be somewhere in the vicinity...


All the best....