More Black Phoebes

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The top pic shows one of 3 Black Phoebe fledglings I found in Florence River Park in Florence, Colo today. This pic clearly shows field marks for juvenal plumage--black head and breast (black back visible in this pic) with white belly and undertail coverts. The bottom pic shows the same fledgling perched next to a parent bird shortly after being fed. This pic is good for showing the difference in tail length between the adult bird on the left and the fledgling on the right as well as the creamy yellow bill flanges and bright orange gape distinctive in fledglings. Both of these pics enlarge pretty good for super close-up views-just double-click on each pic.
Sadly this park used to have a lot of both migrating and nesting birds but the habitat was dramatically changed when they decided to remove almost all of the invasive tamarisk trees at one time (tamarisks were the majority of the understory and midstory, leaving a denuded cottonwood gallery)--a really awful way to treat a good birding habitat. SeEtta

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