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Resum
Age
determination of the invasive monk parakeet Myiopsitta monachus has been hampered
by its juvenile plumage showing only subtle differences from subsequent plumages,
and little is known about its moult. Here we examined three specific traits (grey
patch on forehead, scalloped breast, and notch on primary P9) and three general
juvenile traits (bill cornification, pale margins on wing feathers, and shape of flight
feathers) and tested their potential as age determination criteria using 709 specimens
of this parakeet collected from the metropolitan area of Barcelona in 2023
and 2024. We also studied five moult components: phenology, duration, extent,
sequence, and intensity. Bill cornification, forehead patch, and scalloped breast (with
continuous maturation) were exclusively associated with juvenile birds, while pale
margins, shape of flight feathers (especially those of rectrices), and notch on P9 (all
with discrete maturation) allowed us to age birds throughout the entire first annual
moult cycle. The moult season stretched from March to November, although the
mean moult duration was 168 days. Post-juvenile moult included the body and an
average of 16 wing and tail feathers, while postnuptial moult was characterised by
retention of several primary coverts, and frequently also of outer secondary coverts
and inner primary coverts. The primary moult sequence was clearly divergent across
tracts, with alula, tertials, and secondaries being less clearly so, while it tended to be
convergent in rectrices. Moult intensity described a parabola for both primary and
body feathers. We integrated this information in an age-determination protocol that
may help increase our understanding of the population dynamics of monk parakeets.
Citació
Animal biodiversity and conservation, vol. 48, núm.1 (2025), e0003
Detall de les condicions d'ús
© 2025 The Author(s),Attribution 4.0 International,http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/