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Photo Quiz 8 Did you get it right? See the names of correct responders, below... |
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| Photo Quiz #8. |
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What do we have here? The long tail, short neck, large head, plump body and linear aspect, together with the general brownish upper parts made choosing a sparrow pretty straight forward for most people participating in this month's photo quiz. What are the details, then? Pale grayish head, light brown back with darkish brown streaks, dark brown wings with two narrow wing bars, dark brown or blackish tail that and has narrow white edges to the outer tail feathers. The flanks appear buffy or faintly streaked, the legs pinkish-brown. There appears to be a white above (but not behind) the eye, and white below the gray cheek. Juncos, including female "Oregon" juncos, have gray heads. Adults always have solid, unstreaked backs. Juveniles, which have streaked backs, would also have streaked heads. In addition, juncos would show very black tails with several white outer tail feathers. This bird is not a junco. A first-winter Golden-crowned Sparrow is actually a good guess. Such a bird, however, would still show some of the crown head pattern, which the quiz bird does not. The back streaking on the crowned sparrows would be thicker and more obvious. Someone, probably knowing my affinity to Fox Sparrows, guessed that it was one of the gray-headed, streaked backed races. The races with gray heads have either unstreaked gray backs or foxy orange stripes on the back and crown. Even the darker races of Fox Sparrow show rusty rump and upper tail coverts, which the quiz bird definitely does not. The other races that are more gray above have very rusty or foxy orange tails and wing edgings. Nope, not a Fox Sparrow. Sorry, the back doesn't have any kind of greenish tone. It is a pale flat or even faintly rusty brown, with darker brown streaks. The setting or quality of a monitor is a very real problem with judging colors on a photo quiz. If you really see the back as green, I could see how this bird could give you problems. We're left with three sparrows of desert or chaparral that have gray heads. Black-throated Sparrow is eliminated because it has a gray unstreaked back. In addition, Black-throated Sparrows would show more of a black bordered supercilium extending towards the back of the head. Black-chinned Sparrow is eliminated because of its totally unmarked gray head, gray sides, and solidly dark tail. We are left with Sage Sparrow. Ah, that would explain the bush it is sitting in! Streaked back, gray head with white lateral throat stripe and white eye ring, thin wing bars, blackish tail with narrow white outer tail feathers.
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| Sage Sparrow, May 2007, The Narrows, Harney County, Oregon. |
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What's with the pink legs? Aren't they supposed to be black? Nope. See National Geographic guide (third edition or newer). Remember, Sibley hates drawing the feet of birds, and his illustrations sometimes lack detail there. The actual color isn't bright pink as a junco, but not jet black, either. Always be sure to check more than one reference when trying to identify an unfamiliar bird. And remember, don't let one field mark throw you off the track. Identify the "whole bird." Extra credit for those who noted that this was the "Interior" race, nevadensis, and not the California coastal race, belli. In fact, I would expect that the California coastal form will soon be recognized as a separate species, probably called Bell's Sparrow. The Bell's Sparrow has an unstreaked back, has a wider solid lateral throat stripe, and the tail does not have white outer tail feathers.
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Guesses: Correct responses, in order received:
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