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Remarks (Young and adults in fall)

The young and adults in fall plumage are known as Reedbirds. Adults acquire this plumage by a complete molt after the breeding season. The breeding plumage is regained by a complete molt in the spring, and not, as has been supposed, by a change in the color of the feathers without molting. Freshly plumaged males have the black veiled by yellow tips to the feathers; these gradually wear off, and by June have almost entirely disappeared (cf. Chapman, Auk, x, 1893, p. 309).