Shots from a quick run to town

[MARINERMAGNUM]

I would appreciate any help on an I.D. for the bird in the grass. The others are just random shots I got on a 30 min. run into town for.....what else? Ice cream cone.

[Steve Foss]

The bird in the grass is a female red-winged blackbird.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

 Originally Posted By: stfcatfish

The bird in the grass is a female red-winged blackbird.

Thank you for making me feel stupid.

[Steve Foss]

Sigh. You ASKED!

[JayinMN]

They are all nice shots, but the second picture really stands out to me. What type of bird is that?

[Steve Foss]

My guess is a song sparrow. Could also be Lincoln's sparrow, but I'm not sure. There's plumage variation, quite a bit of it, in some of those sparrow species.

[Royce Aardahl]

Nice pics! I had the bied in #2 singing in my backyard yesturday. Looks like a song sparrow but the yellow made me think maybe a warbler? Trying to figure it out. Has a song like a chickadee but softer. One high note followed by 5 or 6 lower. I'd whistle it for you but what good would that do??

[buzzsaw]

Oh my!!! That second image is just plain beautiful!! Seriously I love it! Great light and pose!! Now crop that into a verticle and take the left hand side of that image away.... very nice!!

[Steve Foss]

eyeguy, you're describing a song sparrow or Lincoln sparrow's song. The yellow on the bird has me thrown off a bit. It's definitely not a warbler, though it could be a different sparrow species than the ones I mentioned.

I think I'll pull the image and submit it to Birder's World's ID center if that's OK with MM.

[Steve Foss]

Update: Hope it was OK, MM. I went ahead and showed the shot to the Birder's World folks.

Savannah sparrow!

[buzzsaw]

I'd say Song Sparrow! I could also be wrong, but we all know better. blah ha ha!!

I had a difficult time with this bugger a while back... I came up with female White Crowned Sparrow, but I'm still not 100% certain.

[Steve Foss]

Buzz, I posted a positive ID from the experts on MM's sparrow just as you posted your guess, so take a look at the post before yours.

As for this cool sparrow, I think you are right on your white-crowned ID. Sibley shows both sexes with identical plumage, but this bird perfectly matches the Sibley field marks for a 1st-year bird of either sex from Aug-April. Looks like it'll be molting into its adult plumage soon.

Sparrows can be REAL tough to ID! So many are so similar.

[buzzsaw]

AHHHHHH, the sky is falling! I didn't even look at them! Guess I need to learn my sparrows better.

[finnbay]

 Quote:

Guess I need to learn my sparrows better.

I'm glad to hear someone else say that. I was on a walk in Ft. Albany, Ontario with a lifetime birder and a full professor from the University of Toronto with a doctorate in ornithology. Watched them argue for ten minutes after a bird flew in front of us and landed in a tree to the side of the path on whether in was a song sparrow or Lincoln sparrow. They finally decided on Lincoln sparrow and I thought, if THESE guys have trouble identifying sparrows, what chance have I got?

[buzzsaw]

Well that makes me feel better... your money is on the way.

[JayinMN]

Thanks for the answer Steve, the yellow threw me off. It really is a great picture of a not so well known bird in these parts. Then again I live in a swamp so what are the chances of me seeing one....

[MARINERMAGNUM]

Wow,alot of posts on this thread. Steve,perfectly ok what you did and I hope you will do it again when I or we are unsure of a species. I wish I knew how to post pics. to that birder world for I.D.s.

Buzz,you are right about the crop. My PP procedures leave alot to be desired. I am stuck on the rule of 3rd's mumbo jumbo.

And I appreciate the kind words from everyone. It's depressing having so much work to do to get this acreage up to the condition we want it when there are so many cool birds moving thru. I usually only have an hour at the max to try to get any images. I think I'll need to take a break from the work and spend a day trying to get some real good shots,it's a good stress buster. All work and no play.............you know.

[Royce Aardahl]

Good job on the ID. I was pretty sure it wan't a song sparrow but it sure had a pretty song. The migration sure has slowed.

[fishface]

All you guys take absolutly BEAUTIFULL pictures.

Thank you for putting them up here!

Jim

[daveyred]

Once again I was reviewing past pictures and I believe number 2 to be a great picture of a Savannah Sparrow. If you look at the Cornell HSOforum the discription says that the Savannah has aa narrow yellow stripe above the eye which this bird does. National Audubon's discribs this as a yellowish eyebrow. Great picture still.

[Borealhunter]

The sparrow below the Red-winged Blackbird female is a Savannah Sparrow. Mant sparrows have the central breast spot and that mark throws off many people because when they see the central breast mark they think Song Sparrow. The main ID mark on that sparrow is the golden yellow lores and central white middly streak on crown and fine streaking on breast. Also the tail is fairly long with white edges on the other tail.

Buzz's sparrow is a Imm white-crowned Sparrow which could be male or female. I am assuming the photo was taken in the fall season.

Mike

[Borealhunter]

The sparrow below the Red-winged Blackbird female is a Savannah Sparrow. Mant sparrows have the central breast spot and that mark throws off many people because when they see the central breast mark they think Song Sparrow. The main ID mark on that sparrow is the golden yellow lores and central white middly streak on crown and fine streaking on breast. Also the tail is fairly long with white edges on the other tail.

Buzz's sparrow is a Imm white-crowned Sparrow which could be male or female. I am assuming the photo was taken in the fall season.

Mike

[Raider4ever]

The sparrow below the Red-winged Blackbird female is a Savannah Sparrow. Mant sparrows have the central breast spot and that mark throws off many people because when they see the central breast mark they think Song Sparrow. The main ID mark on that sparrow is the golden yellow lores and central white middly streak on crown and fine streaking on breast. Also the tail is fairly long with white edges on the other tail.

Buzz's sparrow is a Imm white-crowned Sparrow which could be male or female. I am assuming the photo was taken in the fall season.

Mike

Don't ever muck with Fikey. He knows his stuff. Mike, how come you haven't piped up about the hawk ID request up above?