Odd 2003 birds at RRBO

This House Wren was banded on 1 Oct 2003. The tips of 5 tail feathers (rectrices, or "rects") had unusual, spatulate tips. These did not appear to be formed by the wearing away of some of the feather barbs, but were actually extensions of some of the feathers.

This bird was a juvenile, determined by skull ossification. Feathers labeled "A" were juvenile, and rather tapered. Rects "C" had been lost and replaced, and were nearly fully grown in, and more of a blunt, adult shape. The center rects had the tips.

This close-up shows that the feathers in question seem to come to a "natural" tip, then flare out again to form the spatulate extension.

Another close-up of two other feathers. Notice that the extension on the bottom feather appears to have worn or broken off.

Tail feathers, or rectrices, are numbered from the outside in and considered "left" or "right". Wrens have 12 rectrices, and the feathers with the unusual tips were r2 and r1 (i.e., rectrix right 2 and 1), and l3, l2, and l1.

This Ruby-crowned Kinglet was banded 30 Oct 2003. Rarely, some male Ruby-crowned Kinglets will have orange feathers rather than red. This bird also had yellow feathers in the crown. Occasionally, female Ruby-crowned Kinglets, which normally lack a crown altogether, have a few orange or red feathers.

This bird had a rather short wing measurement for a male (54 mm), but females with crown patches this large have not been documented to our knowledge. The age of the bird is unknown, as the skull was already full ossified, and the shape of the tail feathers, sometimes helpful in ageing this species, were inconclusive.