Moult And Ageing Of European Passerines

About this book

A brand-new, completely revised second edition of Jenni and Winkler’s classic guide, updated and improved for the next generation of ringers and professional ornithologists.

The moult strategies of birds exert an important influence on their behaviour and energetics, and also provide the basis of valuable tools for study. A proper understanding of how feathers are replaced and the precise differences in the appearance of the various feather generations can allow ringers, scientists and keen birdwatchers to age individual birds, and to distinguish between first-year and adult birds. Understanding the moult strategy of a species also provides insights into its general and migration ecology, and allows detailed studies of many aspects of its population dynamics.

Lukas Jenni and Raffael Winkler have studied moult across a wide range of bird species for decades, and in Moult and Ageing of European Passerines bring their observations together to produce a valuable reference for both professional ornithologists and bird ringers. This second edition has been completely updated and revised, with 16 new species accounts added, bringing the total covered to 74.

The first part of Moult and Ageing of European Passerines provides an up-to-date summary of the moult strategies and moult sequences of European passerines, and discusses the ecological consequences of moult. Throughout Moult and Ageing of European Passerines, the authors draw on the enormous amount of data on moult that they have collected over 40 years of study and which, combined with data from the literature, allow them to present a thorough synthesis of the subject.

The second part is of particular value to ringers. Following a general introduction to ageing, detailed moult profiles are given for 74 European passerine species, illustrating all of the major moult strategies and including useful summary statistics, schematic diagrams of the extent of moult and indications of the variation within each species. The main moult strategies are illustrated with schematic graphs, and the moult strategies and extent of moult of every European passerine species are summarised in tabular form.

The crowning feature of Moult and Ageing of European Passerines is its collection of more than 600 full-colour photographs of extended wings, which show the entire range of moult patterns and plumage-ageing criteria. An appendix gives supplementary information on ageing birds by the degree of pneumatisation of the skull.

Large in format, packed with high-quality photography and lavish in production specifications, this second edition of Moult and Ageing of European Passerines is both a major reference for ornithologists, zoologists, bird ringers and dedicated birdwatchers, and a work of great scholarship and beauty.

Contents

Preface   xi

Part I
Chapter 1. The function and consequences of moult   1
Chapter 2. Terminology and methods in moult research   9
Chapter 3. The moult of adults   25
Chapter 4. The moult during the first year of life   61

Part II
Chapter 5. Ageing European passerines   87
Chapter 6. Species accounts   99
      Lanius collurio – Red-backed Shrike   102
      Lanius senator – Woodchat Shrike   105
      Lanius nubicus – Masked Shrike   108
      Oriolus oriolus – Eurasian Golden Oriole   110
      Garrulus glandarius – Eurasian Jay   112
      Pica pica – Eurasian Magpie   114
      Nucifraga caryocatactes – Spotted Nutcracker   116
      Corvus corone – Carrion Crow   117
      Bombycilla garrulus – Bohemian Waxwing   120
      Periparus ater – Coal Tit   122
      Cyanistes caeruleus – Eurasian Blue Tit   124
      Parus major – Great Tit   126
      Riparia riparia – Sand Martin   129
      Hirundo rustica – Barn Swallow   130
      Delichon urbicum – Common House Martin   131
      Phylloscopus trochilus – Willow Warbler   133
      Phylloscopus collybita – Common Chittchatt   136
      Acrocephalus schoenobaenus – Sedge Warbler   140
      Acrocephalus scirpaceus – Eurasian Reed Warbler   142
      Acrocephalus palustris – Marsh Warbler   144
      Hippolais icterina – Icterine Warbler   146
      Locustella naevia – Common Grasshopper Warbler   147
      Locustella fluviatilis – River Warbler   150
      Sylvia atricapilla – Eurasian Blackcap   152
      Sylvia borin – Garden Warbler   156
      Sylvia nisoria – Barred Warbler   159
      Sylvia curruca – Lesser Whitethroat  162
      Sylvia communis – Common Whitethroat   165
      Troglodytes troglodytes – Eurasian Wren   172
      Sitta europaea – Eurasian Nuthatch   174
      Sturnus vulgaris – Common Starling   176
      Turdus torquatus – Ring Ouzel   177
      Turdus merula – Common Blackbird   179
      Turdus pilaris – Fieldtare   182
      Turdus iliacus – Redwing   184
      Turdus philomelos – Song Thrush   185
      Turdus viscivorus – Mistle Thrush   188
      Muscicapa striata – Spotted Flycatcher   190
      Erithacus rubecula – European Robin   194
      Luscinia svecica – Bluethroat   197
      Luscinia luscinia – Thrush Nightingale   199
      Luscinia megarhynchos – Common Nightingale   200
      Ficedula hypoleuca – European Pied Flycatcher   202
      Phoenicurus ochruros – Black Redstart   206
      Phoenicurus phoenicurus – Common Redstart   209
      Saxicola rubetra – Whinchat   212
      Oenanthe oenanthe – Northern Wheatear   215
      Cinclus cinclus – White-throated Dipper   218
      Passer domesticus – House Sparrow   219
      Passer montanus – Eurasian Tree Sparrow   221
      Prunella modularis – Dunnock   222
      Motacilla flava – Western Yellow Wagtail   224
      Motacilla cinerea – Grey Wagtail   229
      Motacilla alba alba – White Wagtail   232
      Anthus campestris – Tawny Pipit   236
      Anthus pratensis – Meadow Pipit   239
      Anthus trivialis – Tree Pipit   242
      Anthus spinoletta – Water Pipit   245
      Fringilla coelebs – Common Chaffinch   248
      Fringilla montifringilla – Brambling   250
      Coccothraustes coccothraustes – Hawfinch   253
      Pyrrhula pyrrhula – Eurasian Bullfinch   255
      Chloris chloris – European Greenfinch   257
      Linaria cannabina – Common Linnet   260
      Acanthis cabaret – Lesser Redpoll   263
      Loxia curvirostra – Red Crossbill   265
      Carduelis carduelis – European Goldfinch   271
      Carduelis citrinella – Citril Finch   274
      Serinus serinus – European Serin   276
      Spinus spinus – Eurasian Siskin   279
      Emberiza citrinella – Yellowhammer   283
      Emberiza cia – Rock Bunting   285
      Emberiza hortulana – Ortolan Bunting   287
      Emberiza schoeniclus – Common Reed Bunting   290

Appendix: The use of skull pneumatization for ageing   293
References   301
Scientific names with their English, German, French, Italian and Spanish translations   317
Index   320
Quick reference key   322

Biography

Lukas Jenni was a volunteer at the Swiss Ornithological Institute while studying zoology, botany, geology and chemistry at Basel University. His interest in moult and ageing arose while working with Raffael Winkler. His main research interests are in ecology and the physiology of bird migration, as well as moult biology.

Raffael Winkler graduated with a PhD thesis on the pneumatization of the skull roof in birds. In 1980 he was elected curator of the bird collection at the Natural History Museum, Basel. Since then, he has edited the Avifauna of Switzerland and carried on the Museum’s own tradition in moult research.