What I didn't know when I started down this birding path was the variety of different plumages that many birds go through. I didn't know that many females were colored differently than males and many juveniles of both sexes sometimes have different plumages as the adults (usually following the female pattern). I didn't know that birds vary their plumages over the course of the year, with the spring season usually having the male birds at their most colorful. Kinda fits why Fashion Week is in the Spring, right? These 6 shots are all of the American Redstart with two different colorations in the orange and black males, the yellow and black females and a juvenile (don't know which sex that one is). I am just learning now, that these shots aren't of 6 different birds, but of all the same species. Makes it fun and challenging to identify species. It takes a lot of mental work to be a birder--and the American Redstart isn't anywhere near the most difficult of the birds to identify over the year. Gulls, for example, can take up to 4 years to reach their adult plumage with different variations on the way to full, adult colors. Oh my!!!
