Rob,
I am pretty certain that you have two different birds here. Your first is probably an adult female but the small patch of yellow on the lower left flank of the bird could indicate a bird changing (in its third year) to adult male plumage although there are no other signs pointing to it becoming a male. Sometimes old females get a bit of yellow in the body feathers.
Your second bird is definitely a first year bird, showing all the characteristic rufous edging to its wing feathers and coverts.
I have handled many Golden Whistlers while banding over the years so am pretty sure I am correct.
I seriously doubt that light could have such a marked effect on the colours of the wings. This time of year is when Golden Whistlers move down from higher elevations. The vast majority show the classic rufous patterning on the wings indicative of immature birds. Most people have probably never seen a definite juvenile – they are a bright rufous/orange ball of fluff that rapidly changes to look something like your second photo, only with a lot more rufous.
Cheers,
Mark
From: Rob Geraghty [
Sent: Sunday, 22 March 2015 8:55 PM
To: Canberrabirds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Immature Golden Whistler?
I photographed this bird this evening at Farrer Ridge.I believe it's an immature Golden Whistler. Part of a feeding group that included a male and female Rufous Whistler, Grey Fantail, Red Wattlebird, Noisy Friarbird, Super Fairy Wren and a couple of other small birds I was unable to ID.
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Both photos are of the same bird in different light. I'm amazed that the yellow from the first image isn't apparent at all in the second.
