Tom:
>Thanks for this information...trying to age a kestrel is mighty difficult
>and when I've asked about it, some folks have said things like, "look at the
>cere and the feet..if they're really yellow, chances are it's an adult."

Forget it. The banded bird I caught last fall had a quite yellow
cere and feet. I remember this bird well because we had a very
difficult time aging it - and I got it wrong. It literally just
had a few streaky feathers on either side of the breast, and a
very cinammon breast.

There are also other features involving the feathers on the crown,
for both sexes, that I didn't bother mentioning as you certainly
need the bird in the hand to see them.

>I think you're right about the implication that aging a kestrel is a whole
>lot more likely if you've got the bird in hand..

Actually, a lot of males are quite obvious with practice (of course,
you'd probably mis-age a hard bird like the male I'm speaking of,
because you'd probably not notice the streaking, but that was
a "wierd bird").





On Mon, 3 Jul 1995, Don Baccus wrote:

> Gene Hunn:
> >Also found two female Kestrels in
> >one clear cut area( about one mile apart). Would this indicate two pairs
> >in the area or would it be more likely to be young of the year?
>
> If you can get a good look at a female kestrel's tail when it's
> spread out, you can age it: kids have the subterminal band no
> wider than the other bands (except the central two feathers, which
> is why it helps to have it spread, as in hovering flight or
> preening). This is only good 'til Sept 1, however, according
> to standard banding keys - some kids (both sexes) molt their
> tail in the fall, apparently.
>
> First year males are streaked on the breast and this is
> usually pretty noticable, though by fall some have begun
> to molt their breast feathers and have no streaking
> on the chest, which can be clear and chestnut like an
> adult in the very center. Caught one with a band on
> it last year that had just a little bit of streaking that
> looked almost like spotting on the sides of the breast,
> and learned later that it had been banded that spring
> in central Idaho.
>
> Adult males may have spots, but the spotted feathers look
> different than those that cause the streaked look.
> In flight, though, I only trust myself to age those which
> are clearly streaked or clearly clear of streaks/spots
> as during migration you rarely have time to make a
> lenghty examination.
>
> Now, go back to your clearcut and answer your own question :)
>
> - Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>
>
>
>


- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>