Quantitative and qualitative age and sex criteria of the Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, in March

Age and sex criteria are studied of 74 Starlings, 39 ♂ ♂ (14 first-year) and 35 ♀ ♀ (27 first-year), in March. Weight, bill length, wing length, lengths of the iridescent parts of the throat and breast feathers, lengths of the white tips on the breast and abdomen and the amount of black colour on the bill are treated quantitatively. Qualitatively treated are: gloss of the plumage, gloss on the lesser secondary coverts, gloss on the breast, pointedness of breast and abdominal feathers, length of the throat feathers, gloss on the end of the outer web of the secondaries, colour of the under wing coverts and form of the upper tail coverts. Skull ossification was expected to be completed in March, but finding 7 birds with an incompletely ossified skull, this character has been included in our study