Re: [cobirds] Re: Black Phoebe - age question

Both Cathy's photo and the one from David Waltman show brownish wing bars consistent with juvenal plumage which is also indicated by the bit of orange on the gape of Cathy's bird.  Having taken hundreds of close-up photos of the many Black Phoebes we have had in the Canon City area I have find that lighting can make these birds look darker and also camera settings can make them look more black or even brownish.  I don't see anything to indicate that the photos taken by Cathy and David are not the same bird.  Ted's digiscoped photo does not show the wing bars and shows too little detail to really compare it in my experience.

FYI, to compare photos of Black Phoebes it really is important to not only have good quality pics that can be enlarged sharply but the ability to see them very enlarged which flickr does not allow.

SeEtta Moss

Canon City

http://BirdsAndNature.blogspot.com

On Wed, Jun 25, 2014 at 6:48 PM, Ted Floyd <tedfloyd57@hotmail.com> wrote:

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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