Temperate-zone passerines undergo a preformative molt during their first cycle, typically within a few weeks or months after fledging (howell et al. 2003). For most species, this molt is partial, encompassing all body and head feathers plus a variable number of wing coverts but no remiges or rectrices (Pyle 1997a). in some species, however, the preformative molt also includes a variable number of flight feathers. one common pattern of such incomplete molt is an eccentric replacement in which the outermost primaries and the innermost secondaries are replaced (Pyle 1997a, 1998). These patterns are useful among researchers who capture and band wild birds as they distinguish individuals in their first plumage cycle from those in their definitive cycle, in which all remiges are replaced (Pyle 1997a).