[wisb] Re: sparrow identification
- From: Chris Petherick <cpetherick@xxxxxx>
- To: greghottman@xxxxxxxxxxx, wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 10 Feb 2013 12:09:17 -0600
Alright - I'll take a shot at it for learning purposes....
It looks to me like the pictures labeled "Sparrow Type" might be more than
one bird, unless the light is just hitting it differently. There appears to
be on that would fairly easily fall under the Song Sparrow ID due to the
heavy breast streaking that appears to come to a central spot, as well as
the eye stripe, eye ring, dark back with streaking and heavy bill.
There's a second bird that, at least in the pictures appears to be a
different bird as it lacks the "spot" where the streaking comes together.
My thoughts and ID points on this one:
Heavy bill with eye stripe, eye ring, strong lateral crown stripes, appears
to be more grayish overall, with a cream colored throat, broken by what
seems be a fairly light malar stripe. The coloration around the eye,
including the suprcilium and the auriculars is gray, with the cream down
below. This leads me to believe that the bird in the photo that I am
looking at is a variation of Song Sparrow rather than a Savannah or
Lincoln's or Swamp.
The one it appears closest to being, other than a Song seems to be a Swamp
Sparrow, but the gray on the supercilium and auriculars leads me away from
that, as well as the heavier back streaks and breast streaks. Also, the
heavy eye stripe pushes me toward the Song Sparrow.
As for Savannah or Lincoln's, the streaking appears too heavy for either.
The predominantly white breast with streaking leads me away from Lincoln's,
which could/would have more cream along the breast as well as lighter
streaking. The eye stripe also seems too heavy. The overall darkness of
the bird and the heavy streaks, gray head, strong eye stripe also lead me
away from the Savannah. Time of year push me toward Song Sparrow, along
with the ID also.
Those are my comments, and I may have missed a few things, and I would
encourage others to describe ID point as well on this dreary (in Milwaukee)
afternoon so we can all learn (OK, I'll be selfish - to help me learn!!).
Thanks for sharing the photos!
Chris Petherick
Fox Point, Milwaukee County
-----Original Message-----
From: wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:wisbirdn-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Gregory Hottman
Sent: Sunday, February 10, 2013 9:38 AM
To: wisbirdn@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [wisb] sparrow identification
I first spotted what I thought is a song sparrow on the 17th of Jan. I kept
taking pictures of it because something just didn't seem right. For the
first time, yesterday I saw two sparrows at the same time so now I'm
wondering if there is a song sparrow and perhaps a Lincolns Sparrow or a
Savannah Sparrow.
One is very shy and never seems to go higher than a couple feet off the
ground. It gathers some seeds then flies back into its snow cave under a
low bush not to be seen again for 10-15 minutes.
Here's some pictures:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/93067783@N02/
Thanks for your help in advance, this has been bugging me for the last
couple weeks!
Greg Hottman
Oregon, Dane Co, WI
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