Dave and other Osprey readers,

I agree that this bird lost it's tail due to trauma and not as part of it's annual molt sequence. 
One correction from Dave's post below is according to Pyle's 1997 Identification guide to NA birds, Le Conte's 
do not replace any tail feathers during their pre-formative molt
(which used to called the pre-basic molt), but do as you stated replace 1-2 central tail feathers during the 1st 
pre-alternate molt in Mar-May. I'm wondering why you think this bird
 will not regrow it's tail in the near future? 

I enjoyed looking at Monroe Harden's Le Conte's photos (http://monroe.20m.com/lecontessparrow.htm)
and how drastically different this bird looks between the Nov 26th and 
Dec 4th photos. There has been discussions about how worn the bird looked on the 26th, but now it seems that
it either had just finished bathing or got really wet while foraging. 

Also of interest, if you look at the last photo under the title "Something happened to the bird's tail between 
these two dates. On November 26th, it had a thin tail.  To me, it looks like it might just 
be one feather. The next two photos were taken on November 26th" and the first photo under the title
"On December 4th, the bird had no tail at all:" you can see that the same greater covert on the left wing is
slightly misplaced. On my laptop you can place these two photos so they are on one screen for easy viewing.

Dan Small
Chestertown, MD


On Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:55:56 -0500
Matt Hafner  wrote:

> As for whether the bird lost the tail feathers through molt or
> trauma, I don't know.  I assumed it was trauma-related on Saturday,
> but the timing is reasonable for molt as Le Conte's are known to
> migrate in juvenal plumage. 
> 
> Hopefully someone with more knowledge and readily accessible
> resources can chime in. 

Matt,


Le Conte's Sparrow's Juvenal plumage (July to November) has distinct,
fine streaking across upper breast (retained through October).  It also
lacks rich orange tones on head and breast.

This bird as a few streaks left on its upper breast which is consistent
with a hatch-year bird and is not consistent with an older individual.

The first pre-basic molt occurs Aug-Dec and is partial.  It can occur
either before or after migration.  This molt includes all median and
greater coverts and 2 to 3 tertials.  Tail feathers are only molted in
30 percent of hatch-year birds and then only 1 or 2 central tail
feathers.

Adults do not have streaks on their breast and molt their tails July to
Sept, usually on the summering grounds.

Trauma is the likely reason this bird lost its tail feathers.  I
suspect its tail will not regrow in the near future so its appearance
tells us nothing about whether it will stay in the area.

Dave
David Mozurkewich
Seabrook MD


############################

To unsubscribe from the MDOSPREY list:
write to: mailto:[log in to unmask]
or click the following link:
http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=MDOSPREY&A=1