Meanwhile

[radegund]

On my way back from snapping the Lisbon posters I've just shared with you (and aren't you glad to have had your lives thus enriched), I met this little character in our hedge. It kindly stayed quite still while I took this shot.



It's a robin, I'm reasonably sure, but with far fewer red feathers than I'd have expected. Anyone know why that might be? Age? Sex? Autumn plumage? Indisposition? Or do some robins just not have as much in the redbreast department as others? I'm mildly curious, but not, you'll note, to the extent of actually looking it up myself. Please don't go to any trouble, in other words, but if you know, do tell!

Comments

[angiv.livejournal.com]

It looks to me like a baby that hasn't yet got all its adult plumage. I'm a very long way from being an expert though.

[chiasmata]

I was just going to say the same thing! It's the slight fluffiness too, I think.

[radegund.livejournal.com]

That's probably it, though I'd have expected this spring's babies to be older than that by now.

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that would be my guess too!

[radegund.livejournal.com]

Yes, me too! Might have been from the very last ... uh ... clutch(?) of eggs.

[mollydot.livejournal.com]

I think it's just boys who have the red breasts. He does look a bit fluffy, as the others say.

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Apologies for swooping in at random (I'm stuck on something at work and am reading friends of friends instead)!

That's definitely a robin in mid-moult - it looks like a juvenile just getting its adult plumage. They're supposed to do that at about three months old, I think. Juvenile robins (i.e. between fledging and getting adult plumage) have speckled breasts, and the feathers around the red patch on your robin do look rather speckledy. I'm not sure when you'd expect to be able to see robins moulting into adult plumage, as I've never actually seen one - moulting birds tend to stay out of the way as they're more vulnerable then - but I'd guess that this one is probably from a latish clutch. I hope it's not getting too cold.

Adults moult as well, after they've finished feeding youngsters, but that's generally in July/August (which is why you don't see as many robins around when it's hot).

[sam-t.livejournal.com]

Oh, and both male and female robins have the red breast, in case you were wondering.