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sage, savannah or ? sparrow? (1 Viewer)

Bubo

Registered Birder
I cannot seem to ID this bird. Photo was taken at Mono Lake, California, Eastern Sierra mountains. I am leaning more towards Sage Sparrow, as the supraloral appears white and the isolated dark breast spot. However, the eye-ring doesn't come across as a strong white...and the eyeline is very distinct...

I'd appreciate any pointers/assistance. Thanks!
 

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I've not seen Sage Sparrow but in some ways this looks quite like one. But, in addition to your comments, a couple of further points that would worry me are the relatively extensive streaking on the breast and the rather long looking bill. I wonder if this might actually be some sort of variant of Song Sparrow.
 
At first glance of the #2 photo, my first thought was a young lark sparrow: from the way the base of the lateral throat stripe tends to curve back and upwards to help form the lark's "harlequin" face, the longish tail, and what looks like beginning of rufous coloration. But the other three shots are so gray and so bland in the facial markings, now I'm not at all sure.
 
I think it is a sage, the gray on head look good and breast spotting too. habitat is right on. Probably a juvenile molting to adult summer plumage. Van
 
Quite a blue tinge to the photos, eh? It isn`t a Sage Sparrow, which has a distinct grey head against the brown back and shoulders, stark black and white malar stripes, and anyway is a much trimmer, neater bird. I think Lark Sparrow too would look much more `harlequinesque` (if that`s a word) and warmer overall. It is too robust for Savannah Sparrow, and I would also suggest Song Sparrow, which its head markings match well. I admit the under streaking is sparse, but within the range of variability, and Mono Lake is dry inland country, not the coastal CA that supports the dark, heavily-streaked birds.
 
Song Sparrow!

thank you everyone for your time, it is really appreciated. i have the hardest time with sparrows.
 
I'm having a lot of fun with a new book I just purchased - "The Sparrows of the United States and Canada" by James Rising (ISBN: 0-12-588971-2). It covers in detail all 62 species of emberizids with superb illustration plates showing each species in various plumages (breeding/non-breeding, m/f, adult/juvenile, etc.). Highly recommended (and reasonably priced)!
 
Thanks for the tip on the book. It might just make my head explode with too much knowledge, but then again, maybe i can handle it ;) I will definitly look into it. Looks like a nice kingbird picture btw.
 
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It might just make my head explode with too much knowledge

I thought it might too, but the author infects you with his love for these confuzzling little beasties, and helps get you motivated. Besides, no all-encompassing field guide can spend the page space going over the intricate variations and subtle ID marks.
 
Although this has nothing to do with sparrows but an equally troublesome ID area (well, for me anyway) -- North American warblers. While they're fairly undifficult (is that a word?) to ID if you can see the whole bird, most of the time you just get brief glimpses looking up at them in the forest canopy with only their ventral side showing. If they sing/call, that simplifies matters.

"Warblers" by Jon Dunn and Kimball Garrett while touted as a field guide is a bit too heavy for my pack, but it's been indispensible for IDing spp by the underside of the tail and the undertail coverts. It also has tons of photos as well as color illustrations of each sp, and long descriptions and other ID helps. It's a Peterson Field Guide and I think I paid $20 for a new copy but you can find them used online all the time.

Anyway, just thought I'd toss that one in since warbler migration is starting here in the US.
 
Thanks for that,Katy,I'll check that book out.
I was looking at several warblers yesterday,with just the problem you describe-partial views of mainly the underside and the trees they were in were very tall!
Ended up with no definite ID's at all,except for a couple of Vireos!
 
"New World Warblers" by Curson,Quinn & Beadle (Helm) has a great combination of the best warbler paintings available (in my opinion) and very useful texts. I've used it a lot in Costa Rica and I love it. "Warblers" as Katy already mentioned it's a great book too, covering NA species throughly.
 
I have both of the above mentioned warbler books. They have been a great help in "sorting out" the various warblers which we encounter here in the US. A person can actually ID some warblers if only presented with a view of the bottom of the tail (not too many, though!). Of course, this feature is most helpful if one can get a view of the entire bird.
 
BTW - I started a thread in the Books forum specifically to discuss specialty guide books (i.e. books that deal with specific types of birds like sparrows or warblers). I figured we probably shouldn't be discussing warbler books in a thread about sparrow identification, and the info you guys are imparting is important and should be seen.
 
Second shot shows a long tail, some what rounded. That plus the head markings make me vote for Song. They are a variable sparrow for sure.
 
After relooking at it, and some of my books, I agree Song. I forgot that some of the sub-species can be quite gray in the head. Van
 
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