04/12/11 - Ageing Wigeon

On Saturday (3rd) there were no ducks on the pond (again), but 2 Mallard and a Wigeon were in the trap on the island at North Duffield, only a day after re-setting!

Yesterday morning (Sunday 4th) Mike fired on 2 Wigeon at North Duffield, but one took off, leaving just the one in the net! After lunch Craig headed down to see if numbers had built up, none were in the area when he arrived but not long after a few made their way up and he ended up firing on 11 and catching 11!

Here's a few photographs showing how we’re ageing/sexing the birds.

These two birds are both adult females, notice the big broad black tips to the greater coverts and well defined tertials.

                                          

Adult female Wigeon

This bird is a juvenile female, notice there's no black tips to the greater coverts, the lesser & medians have buff tips compared to white tips on an adult, and the tertials are diffuse with buff edges.

                                                    

Juvenile female Wigeon

This is the wing of a juvenile male bird, notice the grey on the inner web of the greater coverts, white on the outer web and there's a lot more white in the wing.

Juvenile male Wigeon

This last photo is from a juvenile bird, notice the notches in some of the tail feathers, the others have already been replaced, once the whole tail is done we will have to rely on the wing to age the bird.

Juvenile tail