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Articles

Vol. 35 No. 1 (2004)

BOOK REVIEWS: Ageing North American Landbirds by Molt Limits and Plumage Criteria: A Photographic Companion to the Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part I: by Dan Froehlich. 2003. Slate Creek Press. 51 pages, with 32 color photographs and 2 line drawings. Paperback, $18.50. Available from Institute for Bird Populations (www.birdpop.org/danflyer.htm

Submitted
September 20, 2025
Published
January 1, 2004

Abstract

As much as banders were thrilled to discover the wealth of new information published in 1997 by Peter Pyle in the Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part I (hereafter IDG1), many found themselves limited in their ability to use that book to its full capacity. In particular, the use of molt limits (basically, the points of contrast between old and new feathers) was a relatively new concept to most North American banders, among whom there was a general unfamiliarity with how to recognize all but the most obvious molt limits (e.g., on Black-headed Grosbeaks or on Spotted and Eastern towhees). In this photographic companion (hereafter Photographic Companion), Froehlich seeks to provide the visual aids needed to connect what banders see in the hand with what they read in Pyle’s book. He also provides detailed background information on molt patterns as they relate to age-specific plumages, which should increase the readers’ understanding of what she or he sees, both in the photos and in the hand. The Photographic Companion does not provide photographs for every species included in the IDG1, but instead provides photographs of molt-limit patterns using 24 species from throughout North America as examples. As with the IDG1, this is primarily a book for banders, although increasing numbers of field ornithologists are starting to apply “in-hand” age criteria as well.

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