Sparrows?? I.D.?

[MARINERMAGNUM]

a few of these were at our feeder this morn. not exactly sure what they are. i assume they are some type of sparrow in a winter plume,but i've never seen them so dark. they look like black birds when they sit in a tree. as you can see they are much bigger than house sparrows. some were bigger than cardinals. you can see some faint streaking in the breast. maybe a fox sparrow? there were about 6 of them. they disappeared and didn't come back. the one with a white throat made me think white thr. spar.,but it was twice the size of the white throat that was on the ground with them. anyone seen this before?

camera was a $75 sony that we keep on the window sill in case bigfoot walks by. so don't slap me around on the quality.

[Steve Foss]

MM, melanistic white-throated sparrows come to mind. Could be, but they look a little big compared with the house sparrows in the first image.

[Phathead]

I believe you have juvenile brown-headed cowbirds based on:

shape & size

white throat

bill

faint eye ring

faint breast streaking

short tail

your location in Iowa

Cowbirds actually have a much wider array of plumage than they get credit for....always confusing people.

[Steve Foss]

Phathead, I think you nailed it. Good call.

[CRAKSHOT]

I'd say cowbird also,but I aint no expert,had one at our feeder,here in S.E.Iowa,a couple weeks ago too.A little bigger than a sparrow and a little smaller than a starling.