Aging and Sexing Painted Buntings

Moisture from Tropical Storm Eta to our south and moisture from a cold front to our north and west combined to produced a sloppy wet day on Kiawah Island, and no banding occurred at either site.     

Way back in the beginning of the season I promised to write a post on aging and sexing Painted Buntings.  Well, the time is here - better late than never, I guess.  

Painted Buntings have mostly moved through the area now but we still catch a few more throughout the month of November. The following graphic shows the weekly capture rate of Painted Buntings during the fall from 2012-2019.  The blue line represents the median (peak).   

  

Sexing

Telling the difference between adult males and females is easy.  The male is a palette of brightly colored reds, blues, greens, yellows, pinks, and purples.  The female is a more modest (but still beautiful) green and yellow.  Caution must be taken though because, plumage-wise, males in their first year will look similar to females therefore knowing their age can be helpful in sexing them.  

After second-year male

After second-year female

Aging

Aging can be complicated during the fall because there can be a variety of age classes represented including hatch-year (HY), second-year (SY), after hatch-year (AHY), and after second-year (ASY).  To make the following discussion easier to follow, I will define each of the age classes.

HY (hatch-year):  A bird known to have hatched during the same calendar year it was captured.  For example, a bird that was banded in September of 2020 would have been hatched during the summer of 2020.  

SY (second-year): A bird known to have hatched in the calendar year preceding the year it was captured. For example, a bird that was captured in September of 2020 would have been hatched during he summer of 2019.   

AHY (after hatch-year):  A bird known to have hatched before the calendar year of capture; year of hatch otherwise unknown. For example, a bird that was captured in September of 2020 would have been hatched in 2019 or earlier.      

ASY (after second-year):  A bird known to have hatched earlier than the calendar year preceding the year of capture; year of hatch otherwise unknown. For example, a bird that was captured in September of 2020 would have been hatched in 2018 or earlier.       

 In early fall and prior to the completion of the prebasic and preformative molts, individuals can be accurately aged as HY, SY, and ASY.  As the fall progresses and the birds complete their molt, we are not able to age birds as SYs or ASYs anymore.  Because a SY bird will molt all of the feathers on its body and wings, it will look exactly like a ASY, therefore SYs and ASYs are lumped together into the AHY category during this time.   Luckily for us, aging these birds using wing plumage is fairly easy when you know what to look for.  

HYs are the pretty straight forward during the first couple of months of the fall season.  Before they complete their preformative molt, their greater coverts will have a buffy/tan edging.  Any Painted Bunting with buffy edging on the greater coverts can accurately be aged as a HY.  

Painted Bunting:  HY sex unknown
Note: the buffy-edged greater coverts highlighted in red

The buffy edged greater coverts can be seen without spreading the wing and should be easily visible on birds seen in the field or at a bird feeder.  

HY sex unknown

Later in the fall, HYs undergo a molt and will replace the juvenal buffy-edged greater coverts.  The newly replaced greater coverts will be greenish overall with a bright green edging. In addition, they will also molt a block of outer primaries (usually p5-9 but sometimes more or less) and a block of inner secondaries but they will retain their juvenal primary coverts. This a called an eccentric molt pattern.  

HY sex unknown

 

Confusion can occur between  HYs and SYs because a HY bird later in the fall (after it has completed its preformative molt) will have the exact same plumage as a SY bird in early fall (before it has completed its prebasic molt).  So how can we tell the difference between these two age classes if they both look the same?  First, the time of year can be helpful.  Most SYs will have completed their molt by mid September therefore any birds captured later than mid September exhibiting the molt pattern above will probably be a HY.  There is another characteristic though that can clinch the age and that is comparing the wear (quality) of the primary coverts.  The retained primary coverts of a HY will be brownish but still relatively fresh because they are only a few months old.  However, the retained primary coverts of a SY will be very brown and heavily worn because those feathers are over a year old.  

In the photo below you can see that the outer primary coverts (highlighted in red) are extremely brown and heavily worn.  This is typical of a SY bird in the fall because as I mentioned before those feathers are over a year old.  

SY male in active molt

By comparison, the photo below shows the primary coverts of HY bird (highlighted in red).  Note that even though the feathers are still brown, they are still quite fresh looking and not very worn.  

HY sex unknown

 

Aging adults (AHYs and ASYs) is relatively easy.  Adult males are obvious due to their colorful plumage but females look similar to HY/SY males and females.  Because of this, we need to focus in on the primary coverts again.  In adults, the primary coverts will be greenish with bright green edging compared to the brownish primary coverts of HYs and SYs.  Caution:  A SY that has completed its prebasic molt will look like the photos below and will be aged as AHY.    

AHY/ASY female
Note: the brightly edged primary coverts highlighted in red

AHY/ASY male

-Aaron