The past couple of days I have been getting Purple Finch at my feeders. Several definite females, 1 gorgeous adult male, then this one kinda funny one. It looks very much like a female - dark striping, female facial pattern, notched tail - but it has a little pinkish wash on the breast, suffusing the streaking, and even a bit on the top of the head. I am assuming this is a first year male that is moulting into adult plumage. Would that typically happen at this time of year? I have looked in a number of places and nothing mentions this moult at all. Thanks, Joe Zygala South Salem, NY Sent from one of my iDevices

Hey Joe, According to Peter Pyle's Identification Guide to North American Birds (the definitive guide to aging and sexing), most *known *young birds in their first year and into their second calendar year of life appear female-like and cannot be reliably sexed. This means that in the field, at this time of year, when we see female-like birds, we cannot be sure of their age which also means we cannot be sure of their sex. A female-like bird could be an adult female, an immature female or an immature male. However, birds like the one you describe with the faint pink wash can be sexed as young males or older females - IF you know their age, which in this case you do not - unless you have the bird in the hand. In the hand, you would be able to assess the shape of the tail feathers and the degree of skull pneumatization. If the bird had pointed rectices and an incompletely pneumatized skull, it would be a young bird which you could then reliably call a young male. If the bird had rounded tail feathers and a completely pneumatized skull, it would be an adult and the pinkish tinge tinge would suggest an older female, one that is in its third calendar year of life or older. If you had a female-like bird in the hand that was aged as a young bird, you wouldn't know whether it was a male or a female. So, your bird is either a young male or an older female, but we cannot be sure which without being able to determine its age. Hopefully I explained that reasonably well, but let me know if I can clarify anything. Very best, George George Wallace Salisbury, CT On Sat, Oct 26, 2024 at 4:46 PM Joe Zygala via CTBirds < ctbirds@lists.ctbirding.org> wrote: > The past couple of days I have been getting Purple Finch at my feeders. > Several definite females, 1 gorgeous adult male, then this one kinda funny > one. It looks very much like a female - dark striping, female facial > pattern, notched tail - but it has a little pinkish wash on the breast, > suffusing the streaking, and even a bit on the top of the head. I am > assuming this is a first year male that is moulting into adult plumage. > Would that typically happen at this time of year? I have looked in a > number of places and nothing mentions this moult at all. > > Thanks, > > Joe Zygala > South Salem, NY > > Sent from one of my iDevices > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via email, send an email with just "join" or > "leave" in the subject or body to: ctbirds-request@lists.ctbirding.org > > CTBirds, a service of Connecticut Ornithological Association - Bringing > birders together statewide. Please support COA: > https://www.ctbirding.org/join-us/ > > CTBirds is for the discussion of birds and birding in Connecticut. For > list rules and subscription information visit: > https://www.ctbirding.org/birds-birding/ct-birds-email-list/ >