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The placement of feathers on a bird is not haphazard but rather emerges in organized, overlapping rows and groups, and these feather tracts are known by standardized names. [1] [2] Most birds moult twice a year, resulting in a breeding or nuptial plumage and a basic plumage.
Exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism, the male in breeding plumage is a small, long-tailed bird of predominantly bright blue and black colouration. Non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour; this gave the early impression that males were polygamous as all dull-coloured birds were taken for females.
During the breeding season pinkish-brown or bronze nuptial plumes appear on the foreneck and breast, with blue-grey plumes appearing on the back. Reason Shows whole bird well. The wind lifting up the long breeding plumes illustrates them well, the rose coloured fore-neck feathers also clearly illustrated. Articles in which this image appears
Male (top) in nuptial plumage and female. Male has the wide white wing stripe and conspicuous face markings, which gave the colour teal its name. The Eurasian teal is one of the smallest extant dabbling ducks at 34–43 cm (13–17 in) length and with an average weight of 360 g (13 oz) in drake (males) and 340 g (12 oz) in hens (females).
The plumage of juvenile double-crested cormorants is more dark gray or brownish. The underparts of a juvenile are lighter than the back with a pale throat and breast that darkens towards the belly. As a bird ages, its plumage will grow darker. The bill of a juvenile will be mostly orange or yellowish. [8]
The original English name for this bird, dating back to at least 1465, is the ree, perhaps derived from a dialectical term meaning "frenzied"; [8] a later name reeve, which is still used for the female, is of unknown origin, but may be derived from the shire-reeve, a feudal officer, likening the male's flamboyant plumage to the official's robes.
The plumage is thick, providing insulation in the bird's cold native habitat. [21] Like most corvids, Canada jays are not sexually dimorphic , but males are slightly larger than females. Juveniles are initially coloured very dark grey all over, gaining adult plumage after a first moult in July or August. [ 22 ]
Lesser scaup drakes in nuptial plumage are often said to be recognizable by the purple instead of green sheen of the head and a darker back. But this is unreliable because it varies according to light conditions, and these birds are often too far away from the observer to make out any sheen at all.