brewer's or vesper sparrow, Lassen county, California (1 Viewer)

[woodpeckerwatcher]

I recently had my first experiences with both brewer's and vesper sparrows, but I can't seem to figure out which species is which in my photos. There were a ton of both species flying around and they were very easy to tell apart in person since vesper have white tail feathers in flight, but I wasn't paying much attention to which birds I took pictures of.

I think number one is a Vesper sparrow from the white eyeing.

Number two should be a Brewer's sparrow, or possibly a Savannah sparrow, although the latter is quite uncommon where I was birding from what I see on the ebird range maps.

I believe that number three is also a Brewer's sparrow.

Thanks in advance for checking my ID's

 

[birdmeister]

I believe all are Vesper. Brewer's is a very thin sparrow with a long, notched tail. Vesper often appears plumper (photos 1 and 2) and shorter-tailed. Although #3 seems longer-tailed, the cheek area is too bright for Brewer's but a good fit for Vesper.

 

[tom baxter]

Vesper’s. Uncommon but regular out there, Brewer’s is not a bird ive ever encountered in that area, though I wouldn’t doubt that they exist.