Hi Tweeters,
Sorry not to respond earlier to your questions. I just got back on
Tweeters after a long trip south and just read your messages a minute ago.
We did succeed in banding the EUKE on 3 November. It was not banded
prior to that. Joining me in the banding effort were Jack Bettesworth, Ed
Deal and Martin Muller, some of the most experienced raptor banders in our
state.
The bird is a juvenile based on the following five characters, as
outlined by Dick Forsman in his recent book, "The Raptors of Europe and the
Middle East". Incidentally, this currently seems to be the best source for
information on ageing and sexing this species.

1. The breast is entirely streaked with no spotting (as in the adult).
2. There are extensive buffy edges to the primaries, wing coverts,
scapulars and dorsum.
3. There is no evidence of molt in the primaries (10), secondaries
(10) or tail feathers (12).
4. The terminal spot on the outer tail feather is identical to the
immature drawing in Forsmans book.
5. The soft part colors are pale, not bright, yellow.

The bird weighed 162 grams, had an unflattened wing chord of 262 mm, and
tail length of 176 mm. I would say that it was a bit thin but certainly not
emaciated. Contrary to a rumor I have heard, the birds feet are perfectly
normal. Incidentally, we confirmed Steve M's observation of black talons,
thankfully eliminating Lesser Kestrel. Thanks Steve! Band size is a 3A,
number 1253-77695, on the left leg. No sign of any tar, as someone asked.
The plumage was in immaculate condition with no wear on the tips of the
flight feathers. It looked just like any other wild falcon that I have
banded over the last 30 years. There was no wear on the tarsi to indicate
it had been wearing jesses (leg straps) either. In our opinion, it is a
normal bird.
Our initial call regarding the sex of the bird is that it is a female,
as was the British Columbia EUKE from 1946. We base this on the uppertail
coverts. They are not blue. There is, however, blue in the top (proximal)
half of the tail feathers, but it does not extend into the coverts.
Frankly, I have had so little experience sexing this species that I would
like a second (and third and fourth) opinion on this matter from someone
out there who has worked on them or knows them well. Unfortunately, Bill
Clark is in India for a month and I can't reach him.
I think it is worth noting that Forsman states that juveniles disperse
farther than adults in Europe and that migration ends for them around 1
November. It appears to me that the falcon is setting up a winter territory
here and I am hoping that it will stay until spring. Should that happen,
the next question to me is will she (?) return next year, as many of our
Skagit falcons do? American Kestrels are strongly philopatric here.
Other questions we are thinking about include its geographic origin,
obviously, how did it get here, what it is eating, where does it roost,
does it roost in the same place every night and how big is its winter range?
I hope you are all enjoying the bird as much as we are. I have included
a jpeg for those interested.
Sincerely,

Bud Anderson

ps The bird began hunting normally within 30 seconds of its release.

-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: Mvc-029s.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 34238 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://mailman1.u.washington.edu/pipermail/tweeters/attachments/19991105/33b181c3/Mvc-029s.jpg
-------------- next part --------------