I would call this an immature Slate-colored for the issues Lars raises.
Dave Irons
Beaverton, OR
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 27, 2019, at 5:00 PM, Lars Norgren
<larspernorgren@xxxxxxxxx<mailto:larspernorgren@xxxxxxxxx>> wrote:
Some portion of the cognoscenti will discount this as a Cassiar because it
lacks an Oregon style hood, black clearly delineated from grey flanks, a convex
margin at the upper breast. Also the bright red back...? I have examined well
under a hundred Slate-coloreds in half a century. Others on this list have
looked at thousands. Are the pinkish-buffy flanks OK for S-c. A similar bird
was put up here earlier this year with the same slate colored foreflank but
buff at the rear, the same brown back and nape. Some said it was well within
the range of regular S-c J. I feel the Cassiar is a hybrid swarm, not a real
subspecies, and one should expect broad variability. Lars
On Wed, Mar 27, 2019, 2:44 PM Robert O'Brien
<baro@xxxxxxx<mailto:baro@xxxxxxx>> wrote:
My wife just spotted this bird at our feeder. Not a birder, she's always
asking me "What's that bird?", often a song sparrow; but
she hit the jackpot this time. And just in time as these winter birds/migrants
are due to leave before long. I'm not sure I've ever had one here before, at
least that I recognized. And over many years we've had almost yearly
Slate-colored, one or two that returned for a successive year. Recently there
was a OBOL post of a immature female Slate-colored, so I'm not totally sure of
this one. So?
An interesting "subspecies" or is this just a hybridizing contact zone? And if
not a hybrid between 'Oregon' and 'Slate-colored',
what would such a hybrid look like relative to Cassair?
For more on the enigma of the Cassair, see eBird comments at
https://ebird.org/pnw/news/dark-eyed-junco-races-oregon-slate-colored-and-cassiar/
Bob OBrien
Carver OR
