Extensive moult and ageing in six species of passerines

This paper describes the post‐juvenile moult of the Chiffchaff Phylloscopus collybita, Serin Serinus serinus, Greenfinch Carduelis chloris, Goldfinch Carduelis carduelis and Linnet Carduelis cannabina and the first pre‐nuptial moult of the Woodchat Shrike Lanius senator. These data are used to evaluate current ageing criteria for each species, and some new and more reliable ageing methods are also presented. Special attention was given to the overall extent and pattern of moult in order to age birds more reliably ‐ particularly when working with populations which show an extensive partial moult. The published cases of complete post‐juvenile moult in some cardueline finches are discussed.