Data from: Pilot study aging classification criteria for fledged juvenile white-winged doves

Nineteen eastern white-winged doves Zenaida asiatica asiatica were hatched and raised in captivity and used to develop an aging key that 1) quickly identifies juveniles based on a series of morphological features, and 2) provides estimates of juvenile age based on primary feather replacement. Birds were photographed every three days from 17 to 170 d posthatch to determine sequence of primary flight feather replacement; persistence of juvenile secondary coverts; and development of blue eye ring, black neck bars, and leg color. Eleven birds exhibited adult features such as absence of buffy-tipped primary coverts, blue eye-ring color, complete black neck bar, and red leg color at day 170 posthatch; two birds had these features as early as day 122. Replacement of primary feathers was variable among individuals beyond day 35 beginning with the third primary. Primary feather (primary notation P1–P10) replacement occurred gradually. By day 170, 2 of 17 birds had replaced all primary feathers, 3 birds had fully molted P9 but not P10, 8 birds had begun molting P9 but not P10, and 4 birds did not molt either P9 or P10. Increased variability in primary feather replacement occurred as juveniles progressed toward adulthood; this precluded accurate age estimates of older juveniles based exclusively on primary replacement. The present study provides a better understanding of the molting process that wildlife managers, biologists, and researchers can use at hunter check stations or during trapping and banding operations to separate age classes, which is necessary to establish hunting frameworks and to assess the population effects of harvest and other mortality factors. This pilot study provides the foundation needed for further investigations into developmental patterns of fledged juvenile white-winged doves and provides an aging key that represents an improvement over previous white-winged dove aging keys or reliance on aging keys of closely related species.本研究以19只人工圈养孵化并饲养的白翅哀鸽指名亚种（Zenaida asiatica asiatica）为受试对象，构建了一套年龄鉴定关键（aging key）：其一可基于一系列形态特征快速识别幼鸟，其二可通过初级飞羽替换情况估算幼鸟年龄。自孵化后17日龄至170日龄，每三日对受试鸽进行拍摄，以记录初级飞羽替换时序、幼鸟次级覆羽的留存情况，以及蓝眼圈、黑色颈纹与腿部颜色的发育进程。至孵化后170日龄时，11只个体已展现出成鸟特征：无具淡黄褐色羽尖的初级覆羽、蓝黑色眼圈、完整的黑色颈纹以及红色腿部；另有2只个体早在122日龄便已具备上述成鸟特征。自第35日龄起，从第三枚初级飞羽开始，个体间初级飞羽的替换模式出现差异；初级飞羽（编号P1至P10）的替换过程呈渐进式。至170日龄时，17只个体中仅2只完成全部初级飞羽替换，3只已完全替换P9飞羽但未替换P10，8只已启动P9飞羽替换但未完成，剩余4只既未替换P9也未替换P10。随着幼鸟向成鸟阶段发育，初级飞羽替换的个体差异逐渐增大，这意味着仅依靠初级飞羽替换情况，无法对较年长的幼鸟实现精准年龄估算。本研究增进了学界对换羽进程的认知，野生动物管理者、生物学家与研究人员可将该成果应用于狩猎检查站、诱捕与鸟类环志作业中，以区分不同年龄组，这对于制定狩猎管理框架、评估狩猎及其他致死因素对种群的影响均具有重要意义。本先导研究为后续针对已离巢幼白翅哀鸽发育模式的探索奠定了基础，同时构建的年龄鉴定关键相较于此前的白翅哀鸽年龄鉴定方法，或依赖近缘物种年龄鉴定标准的方式，均有显著改进。