I birded Pathfinder Park near Florence,CO this morning to see if the juvenile Black Phoebes were still there. I only found one of the two juvenile Black Phoebes and it was calling frequently as it fed in the wetland area. Then a second phoebe flew into sight. I thought this was the second Black Phoebe, but no--it was a juvenile Eastern Phoebe. I got the top pic of the two as they perched quite near each other. They were about 75 feet away and I took the pic handheld so it is not great but shows how much more brown the Eastern Phoebe is, though the cinnamon edges to the juvenile Black Phoebe's plumage clearly stands out.
The two phoebes foraged near each other, seemingly without problem. However, they did have a fussy interaction at one point but then returned to sharing this small wetland. As I turned to leave the Eastern Phoebe flew out of the wetland and landed about 25 feet from me. It proceeded to forage out in the open and I was able to get the bottom two pics of it that show off it's plumage fairly well. The yellowish gape and bill flanges, found on young birds, is visible in bottom pic. However, the classic yellowish wash on the underparts on not visible in these pics and frankly not visible in the field--possibly a function of the light conditions.
Birds of North America online well describes the other juvenile plumage characteristics: "Wing coverts tend to have cinnamon-buff edgings, along with feathers of the lower back, rump and the upper tail coverts. This edging of the greater and median upper (primary and) secondary coverts gives birds in Juvenal plumage faint wing bars." The bottom two pics are of very good quality so can be enlarged by double-clicking on each of them for great close-ups. SeEtta
I birded Pathfinder Park near Florence,CO this morning to see if the juvenile Black Phoebes were still there. I only found one of the two juvenile Black Phoebes and it was calling frequently as it fed in the wetland area. Then a second phoebe flew into sight. I thought this was the second Black Phoebe, but no--it was a juvenile Eastern Phoebe. I got the top pic of the two as they perched quite near each other. They were about 75 feet away and I took the pic handheld so it is not great but shows how much more brown the Eastern Phoebe is, though the cinnamon edges to the juvenile Black Phoebe's plumage clearly stands out.
The two phoebes foraged near each other, seemingly without problem. However, they did have a fussy interaction at one point but then returned to sharing this small wetland. As I turned to leave the Eastern Phoebe flew out of the wetland and landed about 25 feet from me. It proceeded to forage out in the open and I was able to get the bottom two pics of it that show off it's plumage fairly well. The yellowish gape and bill flanges, found on young birds, is visible in bottom pic. However, the classic yellowish wash on the underparts on not visible in these pics and frankly not visible in the field--possibly a function of the light conditions.
Birds of North America online well describes the other juvenile plumage characteristics: "Wing coverts tend to have cinnamon-buff edgings, along with feathers of the lower back, rump and the upper tail coverts. This edging of the greater and median upper (primary and) secondary coverts gives birds in Juvenal plumage faint wing bars." The bottom two pics are of very good quality so can be enlarged by double-clicking on each of them for great close-ups. SeEtta
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