Understanding evolution of plumages and other cyclic avian life-history phenomena:Role for an improved molt terminology

Birds show quite distinct changes in both external and internal appearance. An evolutionary interpretation of these cyclic life-history phenomena would benefit from a system of description aimed at mapping shared ancestries of arguably the "easiest" of traits: the molts and seasonal plumage changes. By 1959, Humphrey and Parkes had already provided the basis of such a system, but its development and application, especially with regard to the confusing first plumage cycle, by Howell et al. (2003), adds considerably to its power. I hope this leads to an upsurge of evolutionary studies of molt and plumage cycles that in turn provide the basis for analyses of other aspects of the flexible phenotype of birds. With such an increase, the study of molts and plumages could once again be at center stage of avian biology.