Ringed at the Maasvlakte as pullus, July 08 1998. There is still a hint of a black bill-band visible as a diffuse black line on the upper mandible. Other indication of near-adultness are the small mirror on p10 and the very limited white tips on the primaries. In all other respects this individual is in adult plumage. Some adult may show brown hued older scapulars and wing-coverts and sometimes the centre of the tertials has this brown hue as well. In this individual, the older feathers can be detected easily in the greater covert row: greater covert #4-5, 8-9, 12-13 are older. In this near-adults, it's not a brown hue on the older feathers, but more an intense faded colour, whitish-brown. Less obvious, the same applies for the median coverts and lesser coverts.