Bird Word: colour morph
- Colour morph: variations of colours of individuals of the same species, either lighter or darker plumage, as in some eagles.
Colour morphs, especially in some of the eagles of Australia, can be very confusing. I must explain that I am definitely NOT an expert in this area, so I won’t add to the confusion. Many of our eagles and hawks are confusing enough as it is – without the colour morphs thrown in to further muddy the water.
The only advice I can give is: study the field guides carefully – and ask someone more experienced!
For more in this series of articles check out the Glossary of Bird words here.
Even more confusing when they’re morphs of birds that are given common names on the basis of their colour. (That was a bit mangled.) F’r instance, the white form of the grey goshawk. They’re not going to make it easy for us, are they?
You are so right, Snail. Life is not meant to be easy. Or in the words of Greenslade in The Goon Show, “It’s all very confusing, really.”