Good question Jack -
if you want to start an argument in a pub. Most guides and refs
– including HANZAB – say BOTH can have the colour, sometimes adding
it depends on the newness of the plumage. However, many people believe
the colour distinguishes the female. HANZAB goes on to add that the
female is “More likely to have orange-buff wash to breast”.
Unfortunately no statistics are cited. If Australians were more
meticulous counters we might have been told “39% of females and 17% of
males have an orange-buff wash to breast”. Actually that’s
simplistic because the wash can vary from pronounced to barely perceptible.
The cited distinguishing feature is the female’s grey rather than black
lores. As shown below it was the greyish-lored female of the subject pair
(on right) that had the wash in this case.
From: Jack and Andrea Holland
[
Sent: Tuesday, 13 October 2009 9:13 PM
To: Geoffrey Dabb;
Subject: Re: [canberrabirds] The Thing and the Restless (3)
And
the next question is, which parent has the orange-buff throat/upper breast?
