[cobirds] Re: Black Phoebe - age question

Hi, everybody.

Back on Saturday afternoon, June 21, I digiscoped a Black Phoebe at the 75th Street Bridge, and I wonder if it's the same bird as Cathy's. Her bird and mine (assuming we're dealing with the same bird) appears dingier than, say, David Waltman's. I'm not sure if the gape mark mentioned by Cathy really shows in my photo; maybe.

Anyhow, here's the image:

http://tinyurl.com/BlPh-Boulder-2014-06-21

It's interesting that there may be more than one Black Phoebe in Boulder County right now.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County, Colorado

On Sunday, June 22, 2014 6:42:56 PM UTC-6, Cathy Sheeter wrote:

So I saw a Black Phoebe flycatching near the 75th St. Bridge in Boulder today, just where it had been reported... so I was somewhat surprised as I viewed the bird that it appears to have the swollen orange gape of a fledgeling??  Did the original reported bird breed? And if so with who? I did not see any indication of hybrid in this bird (though think an Eastern Phoebe has also been reported in this area). However I am not fully convinced it is a juvenile, as outside of the gape the feathers, if anything appeared dingy and worn. And fledgeling Black Phoebe should have rusty coverts, which my photos do not show and I did not notice while I observed the bird. I have uploaded a montage at:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/aphelionart/14298316080/ of photos I took today. Sorry for the quality- the light was poor and bird was across the stream, but the large orange gape is fairly obvious in every photo, as is the rather brownish, worn looking primaries and tail. Is this truly the same bird as these photos taken by David Waltman on 6/4 (the only other person to have uploaded photos of the 75th st. Phoebe on ebird) http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S18689458 (which to my eye appears much darker and fresher) or is there more than one?? And is my bird truly a fledgling?  And if not, what could cause the orange gape? 

Private emails are fine, as this probably is not of interest to all of Cobirds.

Cathy Sheeter

Ft. Lupton for one more week.....

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