Learning to Determine the Age of a Bird with Help from a CFO Travel Award

CFO provides travel awards for youth and students to attend scientific conferences, birding camps, training workshops, and other educational endeavors to promote the education of the next generation of bird enthusiasts, researchers, and conservationists. To learn more about the travel awards and other CFO grants, please visit the CFO website.

All birds photographed in this article are banded under Federal and State licenses and permits and handled by trained bird banders.

By Kelsey Corona

With support from Colorado Field Ornithologists, I attended the Advanced Molt Workshop at Braddock Bay Bird Observatory in Hilton, New York. This workshop focused on teaching young ornithologists how to age birds via molt limits.

Molt limits help researchers identify which feathers have been replaced and when in a bird's molting cycle. This is invaluable information used in both the breeding and migration seasons because it can inform researchers of an individual bird’s life history as well as when birds of different ages are undergoing certain stages of life.

As a young ornithologist that is gaining experience in bird banding and aging, this workshop deepened my understanding of molt cycles and why they are important. This workshop furthered my wonder and appreciation of birds!

I would like to genuinely thank members of Colorado Field Ornithologists for making my visit to this workshop possible. I have gained new skills and have deepened my knowledge of molt in many species which I will be able to apply to future employment opportunities.

I also got to band a Cedar Waxing which has been on my “banding wishlist” for ages! In addition, this workshop was a very fun and enjoyable experience that has led to the development of new friendships in the ornithological community.

Thank you very much!