... comparing my pic to wfooshee's it certainly does look more like a female, but I'm learning this all as I go.
Don't use me as an authority! It took me hours when I got the shots that came from to identify it myself, not realizing at the time that the female was neither black nor red-winged.
As for molting, I got this one a couple of weeks after the one I posted earlier.
I'd like to have a definitive way of telling, but it seems in everything I read that there's just not much real difference between young either gender and adult female.
Don't use me as an authority! It took me hours when I got the shots that came from to identify it myself, not realizing at the time that the female was neither black nor red-winged.
As for molting, I got this one a couple of weeks after the one I posted earlier.
I'd like to have a definitive way of telling, but it seems in everything I read that there's just not much real difference between young either gender and adult female.
you are correct, not much is written or shown in field guides of first fall birds in general and they confuse me at times alot.
CAMERA BIRD NERD #1
BIRD NERD O'CANON
"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both" - Benjamin Franklin