Hi Mark,
The two groups of birds you mention are amongst the best, in my opinion. If you
truly want to understand their plumages there is no single source that help
satisfy you. It will require study. An ability to accurately identify the
different ages of birds (in the field or in the hand) requires an understanding
of moult. It is the crux of advanced bird identification. Moult, of course, is
the replacement of feathers. Moults introduce new generations of feathers.
Moults can be either complete (renewing all the feathers) or partial (renewing
only some of them). It is a fairly complex subject because it is subject to
lots of evolutionary pressure (migrants versus residents, cold versus warm
climates, appearances and sex, etc., not to mention the absolute necessity to
renew them versus the energy it requires) and so it differs quite a bit between
different groups of birds. To help understand it, humans have developed some
conceptual models, some
simple, some less so, some good, some less so. If you want to go all the way
with bird identification you will have to get a grasp of this subject. But
master this subject and you can apply it to all birds, and consider yourself an
expert.
Following on from the above, no one source will suffice. Here are some
suggested resources, some theoretical or authoritative, some local (my
references are all quire dated, but progress has not been so fast anyway):
Marchant & Higgins (1990). HANZAB Vol. 1. (The introduction to "Plumages and
related matters" has an outstanding account of the subject be Danny Rogers -
its just a few pages to photocopy).
Higgins & Davies (1996). HANZAB Vol. 3 (has detailed accounts of plumages,
moults, ageing, etc of all Australian species of gulls and terns).
Dwight (1925). "the gulls of the world..." Bulletin of the American Museum of
Natural History. 52: 63-401 (is a bit obscure and dated but very thorough, and
I have a spare photo copy that you can have for being the only person to plug
gulls on B-A in such a long time!).
Grant, P. (1986). Gulls: A guide to identification. T&AD Poyser (slightly dated
but stronger on the understanding of the moult influences appearance, and
therefore better than the modern guides to gulls, in my view)
Grant, P, and Mullarney, K. (1989). The new approach to identification. (this
obscure booklet explains the terminology of feather tracts, feather topography,
moult and so forth - if you can master and apply the concepts therein you can
consider yourself an expert ).
Svennson, L. (1994). Jizz versus Tertial Fringes. ( a reminder that
scrutinising the minutest detail is not always the best way).
James, D. (1995) Picking a Gull Friend: Identification and Ageing of
Black-backed gulls. Wingspan 17 (Vol 5 No. 2). (Kelp versus pacific Gulls,
ageing and colour photos of most identifiable plumages)
Carter, M. et al. (1994). The Comic terns: Identification of four medium-sized
terns. Wingspan No 16. (vol 4, no 4) (Common, Arctic, White-fronted and Roseate
terns in Aus with photos of many plumages.
The books Mike Carter mentioned are also very good.
You asked for books OR resources. One of the best resources available in Sydney
is the Bird Collection at the Australian Museum. On the prepared specimens (or
skins) you can see the feathers 1 by 1 and understand what the literature is
saying. This is how to hone your skills and take them back to the field. Call
the museum, ask for the bird section and make an appointment (business hours
only) to visit the collection and look at your favourites. The curator is very
accommodating.
Hope this helps.
--- On Tue, 22/2/11, Mark and Amanda Young <> wrote:
From: Mark and Amanda Young <>
Subject: Gull and Tern ID Resource Needed.
To:
Received: Tuesday, 22 February, 2011, 9:30 AM
G'day everyone,
Can anyone recommend a book or resource specifically for Gulls and Terns?
I'm looking for something that's as in depth as possible with plenty of
detail on the early few years of these birds. Currently my knowledge of both
birds doesn't go much beyond identifying an adult from a juvenile, and
breeding from non-breeding plumage. What I want to do is to learn how to ID
the various ages of the birds, eg: 1st year birds, 2nd year birds etc.
Regards,
Mark
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
===============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
===============================
|
