Birds and Nature

This is the Black Phoebe in the post below but 8 days earlier (photographed within 50 feet of subsequent pics). It has a odd crown plumage but the remainder of it's plumage isn't as rugged (except the rump area) though it has clearly begun to molt. Definitely it's median and greater coverts are still intact but clearly not so in the pics in the post below. In the middle pic the bird is engaged in 'sunning' behavior , one of things that birds do to get rid of parasites. It is also a great way to see more of a bird's feathers than usually seen as they spread them out for maximum sun-work. With it's beak wide open (likely for the air conditioning effect), it looks like it is exclaiming a very contented "aahhhh." SeEtta

Yesterday I saw this very unusual looking Black Phoebe at my friends place just east of Canon City,CO. I was fairly stunned by the odd plumage on this bird. In the past 15+ years I have seen several hundred Black Phoebes, many of which I have followed for hundreds of hours but I have never seen one that looked like this. That said, I think I understand why it appears to have a 'mohawk' cut on it's crown--I think it has lost several feathers between the smooth feathers just back from it's beak and the very rugged looking raised crest--this gap in feathering accentuates the difference between the forward and rear crown feathers, giving the bird the appearance of having a 'mohawk'. I expect that the remainder of the ruffled and rugged look are due to the bird being in a molt though I must add again that I have never seen a Black Phoebe molting so severely. Possibly due to missing feathers due to molt, it's primaries appear unusually long. I believe it is u...