Italy - Italian Sparrow or Eurasian Tree Sparrow (1 Viewer)

A

AdrianB70

Well-known member

• Aug 9, 2016

• #1

Central Italy - not sure if these are the same or different birds (1st and third photos are same bird)

 

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Last edited: Aug 9, 2016

Nutcracker

Stop Brexit!

• Aug 9, 2016

• #2

All three are Tree Spugs - note the dark spot on the white cheek, Italian doesn't have that :t:

 

P

P.Sunesen

Well-known member

• Aug 9, 2016

• #3

To me the second one seem to have too strong bill, too long black bib, too House Sparrow like wing markings including uniform chestnut lesser coverts and too faint and blurred black cheek-spots to be a pure Tree Sparrow. But I may interpret the very brightly coloured picture wrongly.....

IF indeed you've by chance managed to photograph a very rare hybrid Italian Sparrow x Tree Sparrow, I'll be the first to shout:

BRAVO!

Peter

 

Last edited: Aug 9, 2016

Nutcracker

Stop Brexit!

• Aug 9, 2016

• #4

P.Sunesen said:

To me the second one seem to have too strong bill, too long black bib, too House Sparrow like wing markings including uniform chestnut lesser coverts and too faint and blurred black cheek-spots to be a pure Tree Sparrow. But I may interpret the very brightly coloured picture wrongly.....

IF indeed you've by chance managed to photograph a very rare hybrid Italian Sparrow x Tree Sparrow, I'll be the first to shout:

BRAVO!

Peter

Click to expand...

I wondered exactly that but didn't dare say it!

 

A

AdrianB70

Well-known member

• Aug 10, 2016

• #5

I was thinking that the first and third were tree sparrows while the middle one was an Italian, but the black spot on the Italian threw me off. It definitely does have a more extensive bib than the other bird.

 

D

Dawsy

Well-known member

• Aug 10, 2016

• #6

I had a bird looking much like the one in 2 hanging around my garden (in Scotland) a couple of years ago and I always assumed it was a house/tree sparrow hybrid. Yours could easily be tree/Italian hybrid. It doesn't look like pure tree to me anyway.

 

Jos Stratford

Eastern Exile

Staff member

• Aug 10, 2016

• #7

Dawsy said:

I had a bird looking much like the one in 2 hanging around my garden (in Scotland) a couple of years ago and I always assumed it was a house/tree sparrow hybrid.

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I had a House Sparrow male breed with a Tree Sparrow two summers ago ...resultants looked very much like these birds.

 

tconzemi

Tom

Supporter

• Aug 10, 2016

• #8

Just a dump question: why do both birds have a chestnut cheek spot instead of a black one as usual in Tree Sparrow?

 

P

P.Sunesen

Well-known member

• Aug 10, 2016

• #9

tconzemi said:

Just a dump question: why do both birds have a chestnut cheek spot instead of a black one as usual in Tree Sparrow?

Click to expand...

Not only cheek spots but bibs also have a reddish cast. Photografic artefact I guess.

Peter