John Herman's message sent me scurrying to my trusty copy of Pyle
("Identification Guide to North American Birds," Vol 2) to make sure that I
have been correctly aging Little Blue Herons.  Pyle says that LBHE's first
molt after fledging is a preformative molt in Sep-Feb.  Prebasic molt takes
place in non-breeding second-years in Apr-Dec, and Jul-Dec for all
breeders.  Thus, all the white birds we are seeing currently  can safely be
judged juveniles, including the two we have been reporting from Caesar
Creek for almost three weeks.  There does not seem to be an "immature
plumage" as such.

Pyle also states that sexing is highly problematical and probably not
reliable in most cases.  Ornamental plume length can be used in some cases
to distinguish males, but any determination requires in-hand examination.

Cheers,

Bob


On Sun, Aug 19, 2012 at 2:27 PM, John Herman <[log in to unmask]>wrote:

> I've noticed that the majority of little blue herons reported to ebird this
> summer have been submitted as immatures. Are these herons really immatures,
> or are they really juvenile birds?
> There is one ebird Ohio report of an immature male little blue heron. How
> was the gender determined for this heron?
> Possibly some of us need to be more accurate about age classification in
> birds.
> Good birding,
> John Herman
>
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--
Robert D Powell
Congress Farm Research Institute
Wilmington, OH, USA
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http://rdp1710.wordpress.com

Nulla dies sine aves

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