Could be a 3rd-summer Thayer's that is molting upperparts
into 4th-winter, but that has not yet molted its (not-quite-
mature) 3rd-generation retained outer primaries. Such a
bird could easily look very pale brownish on the primaries
with enough fading and wear. It's quite possible it has spent
the entire summer at a lower latitude than normal, in which case
it would have seen much more sun than typical. Plus we normally
don't see Thayer's at all till they have molted p's later in the fall,
so this could seem unusal for that reason too.

There is also the longshot possibility that the bird is an adult
with suspended primary molt from last summer/fall, so the
outer primaries are actually 2 years old. That might explain why
it is here in August.

It's facing into the wind, so I can't place too much emphasis
on head shape in these shots, and otherwise structurally it looks
very much like a small Thayer's.

It of course could also be somewhere in the middle or towards
the Kumlien's end of the spectrum, but I've seen many small-end
Thayer's that look this small next to large G-w.

Just some thoughts.

Cheers!

Phil Pickering
Lincoln City, OR
philliplc at harborside.com


http://www.pbase.com/godwit/whatsis/