These questions can only be answered by people handling live birds or museum skins. I was banding birds near South Grafton yesterday and Friday and we caught and banded a few Red-backed Fairy-wrens and Superb Fairy-wrens. Two of the Red-backed FWs were adult males in eclipse but there was also a bird that appeared to be an adult female with a brown tail and new brown feathers emerging in tail. The unusual aspect was that when the pale breast and belly feathers were parted the under feathers were black. Does this indicate a young male or do birds of both sexes have hidden black under feathers? I have noticed this before on birds that were thought to be female.
The second query is to the age of a male Superb Fairy-wren. It was a classic adult male in eclipse plumage except that it has traces of the red loreal feathers. Would this make it a first year bird or a second year bird?
I have checked HANZAB on these two questions but can’t find the answers.
Regards
Greg
Dr Greg Clancy
