Experience and handling many birds is the best way to learn and become confident when aging and sexing birds. Unfortunately at a low volume banding station the opportunity to compare a species at different ages on the same day rarely happens. In addition flocks can be mainly composed of a particular sex or age group so I am never sure if I'm actually seeing the full range of possibilities. Pyle lists some distinctive plumage differences for different combinations of age and sex for Myrtle Warblers. This weekend I banded two birds that met the criteria for both male and ASY spot on.
Lesser coverts edged bluish gray (male)
Uppertail coverts with bluish edging and large black centers (ASY and male)
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