Young Chaffinch confirmation please

[gobbiner]

Im 95% its a Young Chaffinch am i right please cheers...Ray

[captaincarot]

yeah looks good for chaffinch to me

[gobbiner]

Originally Posted by captaincarot

yeah looks good for chaffinch to me

Cheers Captain

[Dogghound]

Its a female, I wouldnt want to age it from this photo, someone might be able to though. I would go on wing and tail characters.

[RKB]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Its a female, I wouldnt want to age it from this photo, someone might be able to though. I would go on wing and tail characters.

Looks like a juv male to me. Seems to be moulting out a dark brown crown (replaced with powdery blue) and you can see grey juv feathers among a mostly rosy breast.

[Dogghound]

Breast doesnt look rosy enough for me, all the 1st year birds im ringing are far brighter than this. But ill take your word for it.

[gobbiner]

Boy you guys/gals dont half know your birds thank you very much

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Breast doesnt look rosy enough for me,

I Agree. A male would be moulting into a much pinkier breast and rufous cheeks by now compared with what I can see in photo.

Juveniles can't be reliably sexed on plumage until after post juv. moult (or at least until well into to it). Given the time of year now, the faint white eye ring usually shown on females and juveniles would suggest female to me rather than older (1w) male/juvenile male well into it's post juv moult. The darker area on forehead with faun/brownish crown could also indicate a juvenile moulting into 1w female and most birds show 'greyish/whitetish' feathers during moult due to feather loss revealing feather base.

scroll down for pics of juve and first winter male and female

http://www.ibercajalav.net/img/426_C...chFcoelebs.pdf

[RKB]

Originally Posted by Picidae

I Agree. A male would be moulting into a much pinkier breast and rufous cheeks by now compared with what I can see in photo.

But remember it's going into 1st winter plumage, which is much duller/washed out than spring. It definitely looks pinkish on my monitor, even though it's quite over exposed. I can see contrast between the pinkish cheek and the greyish nape. Plus the obvious contrasting colour in the crown...

Originally Posted by Picidae

Juveniles can't be reliably sexed on plumage until after post juv. moult (or at least until well into to it). Given the time of year now, the faint white eye ring usually shown on females and juveniles would suggest female to me rather than older (1w) male/juvenile male well into it's post juv moult.

I don't know if you're a ringer, but you can often sex them at the very start of the moult, or occasionally before it, as males have pinkish feathers coming through that contrast obviously. Also remember that the head is the very last thing to be moulted (e.g. the eye/cheeks), which would be about now.

1st winter males can be pretty dull and washed out, see here:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_jVQvAvoNc6...0/IMG_9955.JPG

[actionfinch]

Gobbiner , i took this picture some time ago and i was wondering whether or not it was a juv or a female chaffinch.