Backyard Eastern Iowa (1 Viewer)

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ChemNerd23

Member

• Jan 11, 2015

• #1

Disclaimer: I am a beginning birder so I apologize if this is a common species and the camera quality is not the best (getting a new camera this year but need to save up hehe).

This afternoon I found this guy sitting in the tree next to a few others who looked like him. He eventually went to my ground feeder (where the squirrels have picked out a lot of the seed so the beak is difficult to distinguish). He looked like a sparrow-sized bird but appeared to be a rocky-plumage. Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

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nartreb

Speak softly and carry a long lens

• Jan 11, 2015

• #2

My first impression was dark-eyed junco, and I think I'll stick with that, though I wish I could see the beak.

The splotchy white patches aren't quite normal. It looks a bit like down poking through the feathers; sometimes birds look a bit like this after getting into a fight or flying into a window.

 

C

ChemNerd23

Member

• Jan 11, 2015

• #3

Thanks for your help! So that would be a female dark-eyed junco, correct? I tried to compare my him to my book and I landed on a song sparrow. One of these days I'll have them down!

 

Last edited: Jan 11, 2015

nartreb

Speak softly and carry a long lens

• Jan 11, 2015

• #4

The only difference between male and female slaty juncos is that adult males are subtly darker. That's tricky to judge from a photo in the best of circumstances. The blurry photo and wierd white blotches make it too hard for me to tell.

PS. The reason I'm somewhat confident in my ID is that the tail has a white edge, quite unlike the tails of most sparrows.

 

Rapala

Well-known member

• Jan 11, 2015

• #5

Agree with Nartreb, both Dark-Eyed Juncos

 

C

ChemNerd23

Member

• Jan 11, 2015

• #6

Neat thanks you guys! I'm still learning all of the different plumages and thanks for pointing out the marker that gave it away for you!