A Partial Post-Juvenile Molt and Transitional Plumage in the Shikra (Accipiter Badius) and Grey Frog Hawk ( a Ccipiter Soloensis)
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THE JOURNAL OF RAPTOR RESEARCH A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF • THE RAPTOR RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC. VOL. 34 DECEMBER 2000 NO. 4 J. RaptorRes. 34(4) :249-261 ¸ 2000 The Raptor Research Foundation, Inc. A PARTIAL POST-JUVENILE MOLT AND TRANSITIONAL PLUMAGE IN THE SHIKRA (ACCIPITER BADIUS) AND GREY FROG HAWK ( A CCIPITER SOLOENSIS) MARC HERREMANS AND MICHEL LOUETTE RoyalMuseum for CentralAfrica, Department Zoology, Leuvensesteenweg 13, B-3080 Tervuren,Belgium ABSTRACT.--Molthas been poorly studied in the Accipitridae. Examination of museum specimens showedthat there are three age-relatedplumages in the Shikra (Accipiterbadius) and Grey Frog Hawk (A. soloensis)similar to the pattern known in the Levant Sparrowhawk(A. brevipes).The juvenile plumage with its distinctively-spottedunderside is replacedby a transitionalpost-juvenile plumage during a partial contour molt between 4-10 mo of age. More feathers on the ventral side than on the dorsal side are replaced during this first contour molt, which is arrested at variousstages of incomplete feather replace- ment. Usually, a significantpart of the ventral pattern changesfrom spotted to barred, whereby the barring is on averagemore prominent than in adults. The early development of a transitional post- juvenile plumage might be related to early sex signaling.The adult plumage replacesthe transitional post-juvenileplumage during a completemolt at about one year of age. In the subspeciesA. b.poliopsis of the Shikra, which has almost no sexual dimorphism in the adult plumage, the transitional plumage is uncommon and very poorly developed. KEYWORDS: Shikra;Accipiter badius; Greyb?og Hawk; Accipiter soloensis;Levant Sparrowhawk; Accipiter brevipes;contour molt;, transitional post-juvenile plumage. Muda parcial postjuvenil y de transicionde plumaje en Accipiterbadius y Accipitersoloensis RES0MEN.--Lamuda ha sido poco esmdiada en las Accipitridae. E1 examen de especimenesde museo demostr6 que hay tres plumajesrelacionadas con la edad en Accipiterbadius yen A. soloensissimilar al patr6n conocido en A. brevipes.E1 plumajejuvenil con su distintivosalpicado por debajo es remplazado por un plumaje de transici6npostjuvenil durante una muda parcial entre los 4-10 mesesde edad. Mas plumas del costadoventral queen el dorsal son remplazadasdurante esta muda, la cual se detiene en varias etapas del reemplazo incompleto de plumas. Usualmente una parte insignificante del patr6n ventral cambia de salpicadoa barrado, en donde el barrado es en promedio mas prominente queen los adultos. E1 desarrollo temprano de un plumaje postjuvenil de transici6n puede estar relacionado con serialessexuales tempranas. E1 plumaje adulto reemplaza al plumaje post-juvenilde transici6n dur- ante una muda completa al afio de edad. En la subespecieA. b. poliopsisla cual tiene un dimorfismo sexualen el plumaje adulto, el plumaje transicionales poco comfin y pobremente desarrollado. [Traducci6n de C6sar M'/rquez] The molt of flight feathers has been studied in ally undergo a complete molt taking several some speciesof Accipiter(e.g., A. gentilis,A. nisus, months during the second year of life (Hartley A. cooperii,A. striatus, A. melanoleucus,A. badius; 1976, Fischer1980). In the EurasianSparrowhawk Stresemann and Stresemann 1966, Hartley 1976, (A. nisus),the best-studiedspecies, adults molt dur- Fischer 1980, Newton and Marquiss1982, Schmitt ing the breeding seasonin summer.Juveniles also et al. 1982, Henny et al. 1985), but body molt is undergo a complete molt that lastsseveral months lesswell-documented. The larger goshawksgener- during late summer and can continue into the sec- 249 25O HERREMANS AND LOUETTE VOL. 34, NO. 4 Figtire 1. Ventral aspectof the pitimagesof the Levant Sparrowhawk(Accipiter brevipes). From left to right,juvenile (BMNH 1965.M.1087), October,Israel; transitionalmale (BMNH 1934.1.1.1221),June,Iran (note bold stripesremain from the juvenile pitimageand tail feathersjuvenile); adult male (BMNH 1956.57.13),May, Caucasus;adult female (BMNH 1934.1.1.1220), May, Iran. Photograph courtesyof the BMNH. ond year of life (Stresemannand Stresemann1960, (Cramp and Simmons 1980, Forsman 1999). Juve- 1966, Newton and Marquiss1982). During this first niles, however,undergo a partial contour molt on molt, all the juvenile plumage is replaced by the the wintering grounds in Africa when only about adult plumage, except for the odd feather which six months old, and return to the breeding allowsone to identify second-yearbirds during the grounds in a transitional post-juvenile plumage. next year (Newton and Marquiss 1982). The mi- Adult plumage is acquired during a complete molt gratory Sharp-shinned(A. striatus)and Cooper's in summer at about one year of age; some birds (A. cooperiz)Hawks similarly molt directlyfrom the carry over somejuvenile feathersfor the next molt juvenile plumage to the adult plumagewith a com- (Cramp and Simmons 1980, Clark and Yosef1998, plete molt during the first summer after hatching Forsman 1999). The transitional plumage, which (Mueller et al. 1979, 1981). on the underside has a striking mixture of boldly Like the European Sparrowhawk, adult Levant streakedjuvenile feathers and barred adult type Sparrowhawks(A. brevipes)start a complete molt feathers (Fig. 1; Clark and Yosef 1998, Forsman during the breeding seasonin summer and com- 1999) is kept only for about half a year,from winter plete it in autumn, generally before migration until summer. DECEMBER2000 JUVENILEMOLT IN SMALLACCIPITERS 251 Molt information for the Shikra (A. badius) is African Accipiters (Louette 2000, Herremans et al. scantyand contradictory.The Asian race A. b. cen- 2001), we became aware of the existence in several chroidesis said to follow the general pattern of the of the smaller species of a distinct transitional Eurasian Sparrowhawk (Cramp and Simmons plumage, kept for a short period between the typ- 1980). Thiollay (1975) mentionedthat A. b. sphen- ical juvenile and adult plumage. Herein, we de- urusin the Ivory Coast only adoptsadult plumage scribethis transitionalpost-juvenile plumage in the in the course of the second year. According to Shikra and Grey Frog Hawk with reference to the Friedmann (1930), there is an immature plumage similar and better-documentedpattern in the Le- with variable underside pattern, and Zimmerman vant Sparrowhawk. We report on aspects of the et al. (1996) describedan immature plumage re- molt sequencerelevant to the development of the sulting from a first molt. Verheyen (1953) rejected transitionalplumage, and on its possiblefunction. the existenceof an immature plumage betweenju- METHODS venile and adult in A. b. polyzonoidesin the Congo. Similarly, Schmitt et al. (1982) did not find any We examined the plumagesof the Grey Frog Hawk at the Natural History Museum (BMNH), Tring, and stud- indication of an intermediate plumage in this race ied the two African and four Asian subspeciesof the Shik- in South Africa, where the name Little Banded ra in the Royal Museum for Central Africa (RMCA), Ter- Goshawkis commonly used, despite the fact that vuren, and BMNH collections: 148 A. b. polyzono•des they documented a partial post-juvenilecontour (southern Africa), 119 A. b. sphenurus(northcentral Af- molt. rica), 150 A. b. dussumieri(India, Bangladesh),115 A b. poliopsis(northeastern India to Thailand and Vietnam), The Shikra and Grey Frog Hawk (alsocalled Chi- 43 A. b. cenchroides(Azerbaijan to northwestern India), nese Goshawk;A. soloensis)are excellent speciesfor and 32 A. b. badius (southwestern India, Sri Lanka) We the study the sequence of plumages on museum noted the stateof the plumage (juvenile/adult) separate- skins,because they have contrastinglydifferent pat- ly for the contour feathers on uppersides,undersides, and rectricesand checkedfor active molt of primaries terning on the undersidebetween the juvenile and and tail feathers. Contour feather renewal was estimated adult: boldly spotted and striped in the juvenile in percent (mostly in stepsof 10%) for the dorsal and and finely barred (or mainly plain in the Grey Frog ventral side separately.Sample sizes differed because Hawk) in the adult. Tail feathersare boldly banded some specimenswere undated while, in others, the state of preparation precluded the assessmentof contour molt in juveniles, and particularly the inner and outer extent, or limited extent in transitional birds precluded pair have reduced markingsin the adult. Plumage the comparisonof ventral barring with that of adults classificationis further facilitatedby discretebreed- ing seasons,and discretebreeding and nonbreed- RESULTS ing rangesin the Grey Frog Hawk. The migratory Similar to the pattern that develops in the Le- Grey Frog Hawk and the Asian racesof the Shikra vant Sparrowhawk,juveniles of the migratory Grey breed in spring (Ali and Ripley 1983), while in Af- Frog Hawk undergo a partial body molt during rica the Shikra breedslate in the dry and early in their first winter in southeastern Asia and Wallacea. the wet season,although this means in different They replace a varying amount of contour feathers months of the year at oppositesides of the equator and return to the breeding grounds in China in a (Elgoodet al. 1973, Smeenkand Smeenk-Enserink transitional, post-juvenileplumage with a mixture 1977, Brown et al. 1982, Allan 1997). The extent of juvenile and adult-type feathers, most conspic- of movements differs in the Shikra. The northcen- uous on the underside because of the differences tral African race A. b. sphenurusis migratory in in pattern: bold barring