Identity Crisis

Chris Bainbridge1
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Identity Crisis
Identity Crisis

On first glance (at least to me!) this looks like 2 female Marsh Harriers.

Fledged juvenile birds of both sexes look identical (like females) they even both have brown eyes. Over time the male's plumage changes and becomes lighter along with his eye colour which changes from brown to yellow.

Although the bird on the left has a lot of brown, there are also dark grey 'fingers' emerging at the wing tips. So this looks to be a young male trying his luck with an adult female - or a 'cross dressing' male (see the link below from Graham in comments).

Juvenile (either sex) in comments below. In my description I even assume it must be a female, but in hindsight there is no way to tell when they are that young. The young birds are 'box fresh' with cream heads and solid brown plumage.

Have also included an adult male and an adult female.

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Taken on: February 24, 2024
Tags: Everybody's photos tagged with Erithacus Erithacus Everybody's photos tagged with rubecula rubecula Everybody's photos tagged with Marsh Harrier Marsh Harrier more » Everybody's photos tagged with Juvenile Juvenile Everybody's photos tagged with Male Male Everybody's photos tagged with Female Female « less
Camera: Canon EOS R7, f/11.0, 1/1600 sec, 800mm, ISO 1000 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Canon EOS R7
Aperture: f/11.0
Exposure Time: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Focal Length: 800mm
ISO: 1000
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Partial
White Balance: Manual
Color Space: Uncalibrated
Software: Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 11.0 (Windows)
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