To follow up on the "immature vs. juvenile" portion of John's post
about reporting age and sex information in eBird, it's important to
note that juvenile and immature can have different definitions in the
birding world.

So which definition should we use for submitting checklists in eBird?

Whenever a question arises about eBird, the place to turn for answers
is the "About eBird" portion of the ebird website.  Alternatively you
can google a few well chosen keywords along with "ebird" and see if
you can't find an answer that way too.  However you find the
information, here's what the eBird website has to say about reporting
birds as Juvenile vs. Immature (Source:
http://ebird.org/content/ebird/about/faq#section-30):

Q: What is the difference between a 'juvenile' and an 'immature'?

A: When in doubt use 'Immature' for any bird that is not an adult.
'Juvenile' is more specific, describing a bird still in its juvenile
plumage. This plumage is held only briefly for many songbirds (just a
few weeks after leaving the nest) or up to a year for some larger
birds like hawks. Once a bird has molted out of this plumage it is no
longer a juvenile. If you can't determine this, but know that the bird
isn't an adult, just use 'Immature'.


Remember, it's almost always a good idea to leave extra details and
physical descriptions of birds in the "Comments" box for the species
in question, especially when you'd like to specify, for example, that
a gull is a 3rd year in basic plumage but are only given the option of
"Immature." Just click the "Add Details" button that appears next to
the species name, then include those additional, more specific
details, and/or descriptions supporting those determinations, in the
comments box.

Good birding,
Paul Hurtado

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