Moulting in the wrong season? A house sparrow replacing a significant part of its plumage in winter

Extra moult episodes in wild passerines have rarely if ever been documented. Here, we report a case of a possible extra moult episode in a House Sparrow Passer domesticus, a species with just one moult per annual cycle. This bird was captured in active and intense plumage growth in Barcelona on 15 F...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Guallar, Santi, Quesada, Javier
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2021
País:España
Institución:Ajuntament de Barcelona
Repositorio:BCNROC. Repositori Obert de Coneixement de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona
OAI Identifier:oai:bcnroc.ajuntament.barcelona.cat:11703/127853
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/2072/521037
http://hdl.handle.net/11703/127853
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Pardals
Passeriformes
Ocells
Plomes
Barcelona (Catalunya)
Catalunya
Espanya
Ciència i tecnologia
articles
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oai_identifier_str oai:bcnroc.ajuntament.barcelona.cat:11703/127853
network_acronym_str ES
network_name_str España
repository_id_str
spelling Moulting in the wrong season? A house sparrow replacing a significant part of its plumage in winterGuallar, SantiQuesada, JavierPardalsPasseriformesOcellsPlomesBarcelona (Catalunya)CatalunyaEspanyaCiència i tecnologiaarticlesExtra moult episodes in wild passerines have rarely if ever been documented. Here, we report a case of a possible extra moult episode in a House Sparrow Passer domesticus, a species with just one moult per annual cycle. This bird was captured in active and intense plumage growth in Barcelona on 15 February 2021, c. five months after it had been ringed whilst undergoing its post-juvenile moult. This possible extra moult episode involved all body tracts except the crural, all tail tracts, and most wing tracts except the underwing coverts, primaries, primary coverts and alula. We found no evidence that this plumage replacement was the final phase of an interrupted post-juvenile moult. Hypotheses that could explain this extraordinary plumage growth include a mutation affecting the endogenous rhythm of the bird, severe stress, endocrine disruption or a predation event. Although the replacement of the wing feathers was highly asymmetric, we interpret this case as an extra moult episode of unknown cause rather than plumage regrowth after accidental loss (e.g. by predation), given that this plumage growth was compatible with three characteristics of moult not expected during the replacement of accidentally lost plumage: (i) it affected the whole of the bird’s plumage, (ii) involved feathers such as the axillaries that are rarely exposed, and (iii) showed sequential rather than simultaneous feather growth.Consorci del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona202520252021info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://hdl.handle.net/2072/521037http://hdl.handle.net/11703/127853reponame:BCNROC. Repositori Obert de Coneixement de l'Ajuntament de Barcelonainstname:Ajuntament de BarcelonaInglésinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:bcnroc.ajuntament.barcelona.cat:11703/1278532026-05-27T12:53:21Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Moulting in the wrong season? A house sparrow replacing a significant part of its plumage in winter
title Moulting in the wrong season? A house sparrow replacing a significant part of its plumage in winter
spellingShingle Moulting in the wrong season? A house sparrow replacing a significant part of its plumage in winter
Guallar, Santi
Pardals
Passeriformes
Ocells
Plomes
Barcelona (Catalunya)
Catalunya
Espanya
Ciència i tecnologia
articles
title_short Moulting in the wrong season? A house sparrow replacing a significant part of its plumage in winter
title_full Moulting in the wrong season? A house sparrow replacing a significant part of its plumage in winter
title_fullStr Moulting in the wrong season? A house sparrow replacing a significant part of its plumage in winter
title_full_unstemmed Moulting in the wrong season? A house sparrow replacing a significant part of its plumage in winter
title_sort Moulting in the wrong season? A house sparrow replacing a significant part of its plumage in winter
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Guallar, Santi
Quesada, Javier
author Guallar, Santi
author_facet Guallar, Santi
Quesada, Javier
author_role author
author2 Quesada, Javier
author2_role author
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv Consorci del Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Pardals
Passeriformes
Ocells
Plomes
Barcelona (Catalunya)
Catalunya
Espanya
Ciència i tecnologia
articles
topic Pardals
Passeriformes
Ocells
Plomes
Barcelona (Catalunya)
Catalunya
Espanya
Ciència i tecnologia
articles
description Extra moult episodes in wild passerines have rarely if ever been documented. Here, we report a case of a possible extra moult episode in a House Sparrow Passer domesticus, a species with just one moult per annual cycle. This bird was captured in active and intense plumage growth in Barcelona on 15 February 2021, c. five months after it had been ringed whilst undergoing its post-juvenile moult. This possible extra moult episode involved all body tracts except the crural, all tail tracts, and most wing tracts except the underwing coverts, primaries, primary coverts and alula. We found no evidence that this plumage replacement was the final phase of an interrupted post-juvenile moult. Hypotheses that could explain this extraordinary plumage growth include a mutation affecting the endogenous rhythm of the bird, severe stress, endocrine disruption or a predation event. Although the replacement of the wing feathers was highly asymmetric, we interpret this case as an extra moult episode of unknown cause rather than plumage regrowth after accidental loss (e.g. by predation), given that this plumage growth was compatible with three characteristics of moult not expected during the replacement of accidentally lost plumage: (i) it affected the whole of the bird’s plumage, (ii) involved feathers such as the axillaries that are rarely exposed, and (iii) showed sequential rather than simultaneous feather growth.
publishDate 2021
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2021
2025
2025
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/2072/521037
http://hdl.handle.net/11703/127853
url http://hdl.handle.net/2072/521037
http://hdl.handle.net/11703/127853
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:BCNROC. Repositori Obert de Coneixement de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona
instname:Ajuntament de Barcelona
instname_str Ajuntament de Barcelona
reponame_str BCNROC. Repositori Obert de Coneixement de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona
collection BCNROC. Repositori Obert de Coneixement de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,812429

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