Being spoiled with high quality European field guides (especially "The Most
Complete Guide to the Birds of Britain and Europe" by Lars Svensson, Peter J.
Grant, Killian Mullarney, and Dan Zetterstrom) but also some American field
guides (here I prefer a combination of the Sibley and the National Geographic,
since each alone isn't the greatest hit, but together they are o.k.), I have to
say that all four Australian field guides (in alphabetical order: Morcombe,
Pizzey & Knight, Simpson & Day, Slater) are quite disappointing. None of the
four shows really all important plumages, so for a thorough ID (including
ageing and sexing) you always need to look up other references.
Nikolas
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Nikolas Haass
Sydney, NSW
----- Original Message ----
From: Greg & Val Clancy <>
To: Evan Beaver <>
Cc: Birding-Aus Aus <>
Sent: Monday, February 4, 2008 12:35:30 PM
Subject: Square-Tailed Kites over Lapstone, NSW, again.
Hi Evan,
If the bird was from the previous season it would be an 'immature' and not a
'juvenile'. These terms are often confused as most field guides don't apply
them consistently. A 'juvenile' is a bird that is still in the plumage that
it possessed when it fledged. A juvenile that moults becomes an immature
unless it moults directly into adult plumage. Some species do not have an
immature stage.
Regards
Greg Clancy
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