![\"chukar](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/chukar-9210-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI was confused for a long time by this color change in some of our birds.<\/p>\n
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I first noticed it in Chukars. During winter and spring the soft,\u00a0creamy colors of Chukars are particularly attractive and I love photographing them in those seasons. I found this one in early spring a few years ago and I’ve always enjoyed the creamy colors of the bird set against the snow and blue sky background. This is what Chukars look like for much of the year.<\/p>\n
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![\"chukar](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/chukar-0588-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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But beginning in about mid-summer they become dingy-looking and darker. Their lighter colors become splotchy – it’s particularly noticeable in the whites of the lower face and throat which become dark and dirty-looking. I photographed this one a couple of days ago as it strutted through the oolitic sand near the beach of Antelope Island.<\/p>\n
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![\"loggerhead-shrike-8105\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/loggerhead-shrike-8105.jpg\")
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A similar color change occurs in our Loggerhead Shrikes. In winter and spring their whites and light grays are pure and attractive and I really enjoy photographing them that time of year. This image was taken in April.<\/p>\n
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![\"loggerhead](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/loggerhead-shrike-0712-ron-dudley-2.jpg\")
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But by mid-summer this is what most of the adults look like – the whites and light grays have become dark and splotchy (this image was taken in July).<\/p>\n
When I’d look in field guides and other sources\u00a0to try to account for these color changes I always came up empty. For a while I wondered if their plumage was simply becoming soiled and dirty. But eventually my friends Brian Gatlin and Bryce Robinson (both serious students of birds) provided the explanation.<\/p>\n
As older feathers of some species\u00a0become worn they “wear to dark”. Feathers overlap (especially contour body feathers)\u00a0and we usually mostly see only their edges. The feathers of many species have darker bases than edges (this can be seen on individual feathers we might find on the ground) so as the lighter outside edges\u00a0wear away the darker interior\u00a0colors become exposed and that’s what we see. When those older feathers are replaced and molt is complete the\u00a0original colors of the bird are restored.<\/p>\n
I’ve noticed the phenomenon\u00a0mostly in shrikes and Chukars but Bryce has seen it in Common Redpolls and some gulls. There are also other species that exhibit the trait. I mention it now because this is the time of year it becomes most\u00a0apparent.<\/p>\n
Perhaps some readers have seen\u00a0the same phenomenon in other species.<\/p>\n
Ron<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I was confused for a long time by this color change in some of our birds.<\/p>\n