PHOTO LIBRARY

Veery (Catharus fuscescens)

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC

common   fairly common   uncommon   rare   occasional   no records

 

QUICK TIPS: 1) Look at the greater coverts - the presence of buffy-white shaft streaks indicates a HY/SY bird, however the absence of buffy-white shaft streaks is NOT an entirely reliable indicator of AHY/ASY, as some HY/SY birds may lack these markings 2) Examine the outermost primary (p10) - on HY/SY birds it is rounded and often longer than the primary coverts, while on AHY/ASY birds it is narrow, pointed, and 4-9 mm shorter than the primary coverts 3) Look at the shape of the rectrices - they are tapered and relatively abraded on HY/SY birds, but rounded and relatively fresh on AHY/ASY birds

January - July:

ASY - U Broad and rounded rectrices; outermost primary (p10) narrow and pointed. SY - U Pale shaft streaks on outer greater coverts; rectrices narrow, tapered, and relatively worn; p10 broad and rounded

-

June - December:

AHY - U Broad and rounded rectrices; outermost primary (p10) narrow and pointed. SY - U Very worn coverts and rectrices; pale tips to greater coverts in combination with moulting primaries and/or secondaries HY - U Pale shaft streaks on outer greater coverts; rectrices narrow, tapered, and relatively worn; p10 broad and rounded JUV - U Prominent speckling on the back, shoulders, and head

 

Ageing and sexing details:

Overall body plumage is rarely helpful in determining age, and does not vary at all by sex.

Photo by Marcel Gahbauer, McGill Bird Observatory, May 2006

Photo by Marcel Gahbauer, McGill Bird Observatory, May 2005
 

---

After-second-year birds have coverts uniform in colour and wear.  However, a more reliable indicator of age is the pointed, relatively narrow, and short outer primary as shown in the second photo below.

Photo by Marcel Gahbauer, McGill Bird Observatory, May 2006

Photo by Marcel Gahbauer, McGill Bird Observatory, May 2006

---

The rectrices of after-second-year thrushes are relatively broad and rounded, as in the photo below.

Photo by Marcel Gahbauer, McGill Bird Observatory, May 2006

RETURN TO AGE/SEX OVERVIEW

 

second-year unknown

 

after-hatch-year unknown

Occasionally after-hatch-year Veerys can be identified as second-year until late in their second summer if they retain distinctive juvenal feathers.  Pale tips to the juvenal greater coverts are visible in the photo below, but as hatch-year birds may also show these at the same time of year, the wing and tail should be looked at closely.

Photo by Marcel Gahbauer, McGill Bird Observatory, July 2005
 

---

Note the pale tips on the very worn greater coverts in the first photo below, and the active moult evident among the primaries in the second photo indicating that it is an after-hatch-year bird; in both cases the broad and rounded outermost primary (though not shown in the photos) confirmed the age as second-year.

Photo by Marcel Gahbauer, McGill Bird Observatory, July 2005

Photo by Marcel Gahbauer, McGill Bird Observatory, July 2005
 

---

The juvenal rectrices are very narrow, pointed, and worn by the time a second-year bird has had them for a full year.

Photo by Marcel Gahbauer, McGill Bird Observatory, July 2005

RETURN TO AGE/SEX OVERVIEW

 

hatch-year unknown

juvenile unknown