I think this is a young juvenile Finch missing its tail. Every now and then I see a bird without a tail. This one seems to be fine just fine although I’m sure there are some conditions where it would be challenging. Anybody have any ideas on why this happens?
Any
ISO 1600, 200-600 at 600 mm, F8, 1000th, Sony A1
I’m not sure why it happens, David, but I’ve seen it several times as well and it doesn’t seem to bother the birds much though I would think that it would reduce their maneuverability in flight.
I like the pose. It’s always hard to figure out the “horizon” with a curve like this, but I think it could use just a hint of CW rotation.
BTW, the colors seem wrong for a finch. It looks like a juvenile Junco to me.
Nice pose and good colors in the finch. I have no idea why or how some birds lose their tail feathers, other than molting.
I thought it might be a juvenile towhee but you could be right about it being a junco. The eye isn’t red but that could change later. These juveniles are difficult to ID. Look at the juvenile towhee I posted in mid July. I think it looks more like that one…
