Subject: Re: Rusty Blackbird
Date: Feb 1 19:57:55 1998
From: Eugene Hunn - hunnhome at accessone.com


But "juveniles in summer" in this case presumably refers to young shortly
after fledging. How long would they keep the dark eyes. I doubt they would
keep them into January.

Gene Hunn, Seattle, hunnhome at accessone.com

At 10:27 AM 2/1/98 -0800, you wrote:
>Hi Tweets -
>
>Gail Spitler mentions that they couldn't find reference to anything but
>yellow eyes for Rusty Blackbird. The second edition of the National
>Geographic Guide states that "Juveniles resemble winter adults but have
>dark eyes". In checking, I notice that the 1st edition doesn't have this
>statement. Also, The Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding, vol. 3, p.
>298 mentions that "Juveniles in summer may have dark eyes". When we
>first saw the bird with the dark eye it considerably puzzled us, but all
>the other features were consistent with Rusty. That was one of the
>reasons we studied it thoroughly. Later, when checking guides we found
>the reference to dark eyes for juveniles. It is a continual learning
>experience isn't it.
>
>Brian H. Bell
>Woodinville Wa
>bellasoc at isomedia.com
>
>