birding-aus

Whie Goshawk, Pink Robin

To: "Michael Hunter" <>, <>, <>
Subject: Whie Goshawk, Pink Robin
From: "Greg" <>
Date: Mon, 3 Apr 2006 14:29:16 +1000
Hi Michael,

I thought that you might be interested in the difference between a 'phase' and a 'morph' with respect to bird colours. The white Goshawk that you saw would be more appropriately described as a white 'morph'. A colour 'phase' is a colouration that is not permanent, such as when an immature bird is differently coloured to the adult e.g Black-breasted Buzzard and Little Eagle, although the Little Eagle adult can be either a light (pale) morph or a dark morph, so that species has phases and morphs.

Some field guides use the term 'phase' incorrectly so it is not unexpected that many birdwatchers would be misled.

I hope that this has been of interest.

Regards

Greg Clancy





<Prev in Thread] Current Thread [Next in Thread>
Admin

The University of NSW School of Computer and Engineering takes no responsibility for the contents of this archive. It is purely a compilation of material sent by many people to the birding-aus mailing list. It has not been checked for accuracy nor its content verified in any way. If you wish to get material removed from the archive or have other queries about the archive e-mail Andrew Taylor at this address: andrewt@cse.unsw.EDU.AU