{"id":73468,"date":"2020-09-05T05:55:21","date_gmt":"2020-09-05T11:55:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=73468"},"modified":"2022-07-10T08:35:29","modified_gmt":"2022-07-10T14:35:29","slug":"molting-immature-green-tailed-towhee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/09\/05\/molting-immature-green-tailed-towhee\/","title":{"rendered":"Molting Immature Green-tailed Towhee"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MoltingMolting immature Green-tailed Towhee on a willow branch \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Green-tailed Towhees that hatched this year undergo a molt on or near their natal breeding grounds prior to fall migration.<\/p>\n

I photographed this immature Green-tailed Towhee in the Wasatch Mountains<\/span><\/a> on August 27th. This molt is called “first Prebasic” or “Prebasic I” and because the immature towhee is in the middle of the molt it looks a bit raggedy or disheveled. During this time they molt most or all of their body feathers.<\/p>\n

\"ImmatureImmature Green-tailed Towhee in molt \u2013 Nikon D500, f9, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I first saw this immature towhee it was feeding on a serviceberry in the distance I hoped that it would come in closer to my “mobile blind”, aka my Jeep. When it landed on a nearby willow branch it was almost too close for me to focus on.<\/p>\n

I was able to take a nice, long series of photos of the molting Green-tailed Towhee before it flew across the road and out of my sight.<\/p>\n

When this young towhee takes wing on its first fall migration in just a matter of weeks it will have the rufous crown, white stripes on its chin and throat and the white supraloral spots between its bill and crown that the adults of this species exhibit.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good. Stay safe.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Green-tailed Towhee photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Green-tailed Towhees that hatched this year undergo a molt on or near their natal breeding grounds prior to fall migration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":104038,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,2212,4594,26,773],"tags":[4897,6023,10397,3905,4067,4071,2312,2313,4104,2303,10398,10298,855,4195,5908,4854,6107,4193],"class_list":["post-73468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-green-tailed-towhees","category-morgan-county","category-utah","category-wasatch-mountains","tag-branch","tag-disheveled","tag-first-prebasic","tag-green-tailed-towhee","tag-immature","tag-juvenile","tag-molt","tag-molting","tag-perched","tag-pipilo-chlorurus","tag-prebasic-i","tag-raggedy","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-towhee","tag-towhees","tag-willow","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-8122.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-j6Y","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":104572,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/07\/28\/low-light-young-green-tailed-towhee\/","url_meta":{"origin":73468,"position":0},"title":"Low Light Young Green-tailed Towhee","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"July 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Three mornings ago before the sun rose high enough to light up a willow thicket a young Green-tailed Towhee perched on a branch directly in front of me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Green-tailed Towhee in low light, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-immature-low-light-mia-mcpherson-7739.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/green-tailed-towhee-immature-low-light-mia-mcpherson-7739.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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Serviceberry","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I found this young Green-tailed Towhee perched in a serviceberry high in a mountain canyon on a sunny morning on the last day of July this year.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Green-tailed Towhee posing in a serviceberry, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/green-tailed-towhee-young-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-9984.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/green-tailed-towhee-young-serviceberry-mia-mcpherson-9984.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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