[obol] Bell's Sparrow -- A Potential Addition to the Oregon List???
- From: David Irons <llsdirons@xxxxxxx>
- To: OBOL Oregon Birders Online <obol@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 3 Aug 2013 20:10:40 +0000
Greetings All,
I've spent the morning creating the new species pages for Bell's and Sagebrush
Sparrows, which are now elevated to species status in the latest AOU Checklist
Supplement (#54). Separating these two former conspecifics isn't something I'd
ever paid attention to in the past, as all of the the Oregon breeders are of
the interior form (now Sagebrush Sparrow -- Artemisiospiza nevadensis).
As I was sitting here working away, it occurred to me that some of the"Sage"
Sparrows that turn up annually in w. OR during Spring could potentially be
Bell's Sparrows, as this form nests as far north as Trinity County, California
and is resident in California's Central Valley. Bell's are far less migratory
than Sagebrush Sparrow and resident in areas where drought is less a factor
than it is across the Great Basin breeding range of Sagebrush Sparrow, so it is
likely that the spring strays to western Oregon are mostly, if not all
Sagebrush Sparrows. However, there are NO records of Bell's Sparrow for Oregon,
so we should endeavor to review any photo records of "Sage Sparrow" for western
Oregon. Someone out there may have a photo of a first state record and not even
know it.
If anyone has digital photos of one of the many westside Sage Sparrows that
have occurred in western Oregon, please send them to me as jpgs. Separating
these birds is not particularly difficult with a good photo. The links below
will take you to the new species pages for Sagebrush and Bell's Sparrow. If you
click on the "Identification Photos" text below the feature image, you can look
at galleries of photos for each species. I would love to poke through a pile of
photos in hopes of finding buried treasure.
http://www.birdfellow.com/birds/sagebrush-sparrow-artemisiospiza-nevadensis
http://www.birdfellow.com/birds/bells-sparrow-artemisospiza-belli
Dave IronsPortland, OR
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