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Message: <blockquote data-quote="tom baxter" data-source="post: 3441494" data-attributes="member: 118015">I personally am finding it hard to call the first bird a Lincoln's Sparrow. It does appear to have some qualities of a Lincoln's i.e. appearance of buffy tones and fine streaks on the flanks. However, the underside of the bird appears to be uniformly buffy, which is not consistent with my experience with Lincoln's and makes me think that it may be a lighting trick. Additionally, the size of the bill and overall heftiness of the bird is more in line with a song sparrow, especially the bill. It also does not have as much gray in the face as I would like to see to call it a Lincoln's and the streaks on the back seem a bit bold for a Lincoln's. And to throw it out there (although this is certainly not conclusive), Lincoln's tend to raise their crown feathers particularly when they are alert. Based on the statement earlier in the thread that the OP made about the bird : "but were on high-alert upon my approach and left quickly after 1 or 2 snaps" I would expect to see an alert posture Lincoln's with raised crown.All in all, I think the structure of the bird is the most reliable thing in this photo and I think it appears to favor song sparrow. The second one I agree looks to me to be a pretty clear Song Sparrow.</blockquote>