Hello Jenny,
According to Google, in many places, nestling birds from very different
families have distinctive mouth markings.
In Australia, nestling Pheasant Coucals, possibly the ugliest nestlings in
existence, have very attractive tongue markings. Coucals are closely related to
cuckoos. You can see a picture on my website at www.graemechapman.com.au
I have seen distinctive tongue markings in other birds in Australia, such as
Golden-headed Cisticola, the grassbirds, the songlarks and Horsfield's Bushlark
to name a few. The bushlark is also on my website.
I have a vague memory of having possessed a coloured broadsheet many years ago
that showed a wide range of different patterns and colours of nestling's mouth
patterns somebody had once photographed, but I can"t find it now.
It is an interesting subject, but unless you are a bird photographer or bird
bander (or even an egg collector!!) such information, which I suspect would be
a useful taxonomic clue, is largely unknown. There are very few specimens of
nestlings in museums.
Regards
Graeme Chapman
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