Sparrowhawk in the snow

[shenk1]

Had a treat this morning (other than not going to work again),this Sparrowhawk sat on the garden fence for about half a hour watching the fields and bushes behind for breakfast.

Would I be right in thinking its a juvenile male?




Cheers,shenk1

[Dogghound]

Its a 2nd year bird. I wouldnt want to sex it unless I knew its wing length. Someone else may know more about sexing young birds than me.

[Sparklebug]

Looks like he was just hanging around waiting for lunch to arrive - great snap!

[faz]

i would say a male spar

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Its a 2nd year bird. I wouldnt want to sex it unless I knew its wing length. Someone else may know more about sexing young birds than me.

How are you aging it as a 2cy? 1st summer birds have had an almost complete moult by now so should look very similar to adults bar some retained coverts/mantle feathers - they should show some uneven moult as a result and more greyish upperparts but this is variable and separation between adults and 2cy Autumn-3cy Spring is very difficult and not always possible unless in the hand - the even dark brown upperparts and ochre streaking on the hind neck, along with neat rufous edges to visible coverts, suggest a 1cy Autumn individual to me! Not sure I could sex it accurately either, most differences in juveniles tends to be on breast pattern and it's a little hard to judge the size here (but agree with the other posters, looks on the smaller side), so inclined to agree with Shenk1 in terms of age and sex unless you can convince me otherwise!

[Cordaline]

Originally Posted by shenk1

Had a treat this morning (other than not going to work again),this Sparrowhawk sat on the garden fence for about half a hour watching the fields and bushes behind for breakfast.

Would I be right in thinking its a juvenile male?




Cheers,shenk1

Beautiful bird!
Lovely pic, thanks for sharing.

[Dogghound]

Originally Posted by Picidae

How are you aging it as a 2cy? 1st summer birds have had an almost complete moult by now so should look very similar to adults bar some retained coverts/mantle feathers

I was under the impression that juvenile feathers were retained through the first winter, then the post juvenile moult starts in the 2nd year. Which with the retained juvenile coverts etc would produce a bird which looks like this.

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

I was under the impression that juvenile feathers were retained through the first winter, then the post juvenile moult starts in the 2nd year. Which with the retained juvenile coverts etc would produce a bird which looks like this.

Er, think perhaps you're getting a little confused. Juv. moult does start in the 1st summer (ie.2cy) but is completed by the 2cy Autumn in the same year (Oct in most juvs) which would make it look first adult/adult like with perhaps a few retained juv feathers not a complete plumage of such. We are now in December!

[Dogghound]

Yeh sorry.... had a moment

[shenk1]

Thanks for the info on moults and kind words on the piccie(light was rubbish and must really have a word with the missusabout cleaning the windows).

We have had male and female in the garden in the past and was definitely the size of the male-just wondered if they grew a bit bigger over the first year or two.

Cheers,shenk1