Species: Orange-crowned Warbler
Most recent capture date: 5/08/2022
Age: less than six weeks old

Notes: Where adults generally look sleek and put-together, recent fledglings have a plumage that looks looser, fluffier, dirtier. These are feathers grown quickly and energetically cheaply, with a lower density of barbs, at a time of life when the bird needs to go from naked to feathered ASAP. Under these feathers there is still a surprising amount of naked skin; those patches will fill in with body plumage over the next few months.