a few from the blacbird family.

[denis]

these were taken at various locations and times,whitin the last few months.
european starling

F RWB

baby RWB

[lovetobird]

Love the second image, great pose and head angle and even catched a glimpse of the red on the females wing, awesome!

Nathan

[denis]

thanks nathan.
these girls are easy to get,but the babies were tough to spot in the bullrushes,and even harder to get a relatively clean shot.

[Moira]

Well exposed Denis - you make a Starling look good!  I don't think I got that ugly baby quite as clear as yours - LOL.

[Photoman]

Very nice Denis, nice warm colors.

Clemens

[denis]

thanks guys.
the starlings are a bit of a pest,and an introduced species,but i like those irradescent colours,under certain lighting conditions.

[Andreas Jonsson]

Love the second photo. But note that the red shoulders suggest that it is a 1st summer male.

[denis]

thanks andreas.
well maybe you can staighten this up for me.here,s a grown male with full wing patch.

here,s a juvenile first year male(so i was told by birders on site). note the just emerging red wing patch.
my field guide mentions the female with a faint red shoulder patch.now i,m confused! help!!

[Andreas Jonsson]

Now you are making me uncertain! What guide are you using? Sibley shows "female"-plumage birds with faint red shoulder patches as first summer males (i.e. not juveniles). What i don't understand, is why an almost fully black juvenile (as the one you show above) would moult into a more female-looking plumage over the course of a year. Doesn't make any sense to me. Hope someone else on the list can help.

[Andreas Jonsson]

Same question appeared here:

http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=89838

[denis]

food for thought andreas.
i,m using ANDY BEZENER,s birds of ontario field guide.the male,female in question was shot earlier this year,with an adult male present,and were observed dipping down into the reeds,where i presume the nest was .i,m very unsure but will go with the aumption that it is a male according to your expertise.i,m just a rookie,and by no means capable of beeing able to identify this bird for certain.