| Description:
Small,
long-tailed, white tipped outter tail feathers, bright
white spots on wing-coverts, crimson orbital skin.
Adult
male: The head, neck, and breast are light blue-grey.
The bill is dark grey. The iris is orange with bright
red orbital skin, which intensifies in breeding season.
The abdomen is creamy-white. The upper and back, as
well as the tail and central feathers are brown-grey.
The next outer pair of tail feathers is tipped with
whiteand the other whole distal half is white. The
wing feathers and scapulars are brown-grey, spotted
with small irregular white spots with black edges.
The primaries, leading edge, and tip are brown-grey;
the remainder is chestnut. The secondaries are blue-grey.
On the under-side of the wing, the chestnut primaries
have brown-grey tips. The legs and feet are pink.
Adult
female: The female is similar to the male but has
more brown suffusion on all grey parts. Also, the
orbital skin is less bright.
Juvenile:
The juvenile differs from the adult in the following
ways. The bill is light grey. The iris is fawn, with
fawn orbital skin. The crown, scapulars, and wing
coverts are brown, each feather with a black, then
grey tip, giving it a striped effect. The back and
upper-tail coverts are grey-brown with pale grey tips.
The breast is grey, each feather having a brown tip.
Very few, if any, white spots are on the wing and
then only on the inner coverts. The legs and feet
are light grey.
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