Northern Shoveler Eclipse

[Martin Butterfield <>]

Hear the words of HANZAB (v1 p1349):

"... suggests some vagrants adjust moult-cycle to conditions in s. hemisphere (Kinsky and Jones 1972); thus probable that most plumages, except juvenile, could be seen at almost any time in A'asia."

Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/

On Tue, 24 Sep 2019 at 17:14, Philip Veerman <> wrote:

It may be that the bird has been in Australia for more than a year or two. I wonder if it is the same bird as was at Werribee. On that possibility (and it is just a guess), it may actually have reset to thinking, or at least its annual timing, to that now is spring, as it is here, and not the autumn that it might think it is if it only arrived from the northern hemisphere recently. I wonder if it could moult from one breeding plumage to a new breeding plumage, without going into eclipse, if the lighting regime stimulates the change. Just suggesting………

 

Philip

 

 

From: calyptorhynchus . [
Sent: Tuesday, 24 September, 2019 3:06 PM
To: Canberra Birds
Subject: [canberrabirds] Northern Shoveler Eclipse

 

To answer my own question, this largely takes place during breeding, or at least the replacement of the flight feathers and the flightless phase.

So our northern shoveler won’t be immobile, which could explain why it’s gone missing from the ACT! 

 

John L

--

John Leonard
Canberra
Australia
www.jleonard.net

‘There is kinship between people and all animals. Such is the Law.’ Kimberley lawmen (from Yorro Yorro)