Re: [SBB] Palo Alto 10/4

[Chuq Von Rospach <[[email protected]]>]

Thanks to Alvaro, Bob Power, Roy Churchwell and Mike Rogers for  
helping (again!)


On Oct 5, 2007, at 9:37 AM, Chuq Von Rospach wrote:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuqui/1490228501/
>
> My best guess is that it's another Lincoln's, but I'd like  
> confirmation. If so, it's my third of the season.

All agreed it was a song sparrow. Alvaro noted he thought it wasn't  
local, but migrating through from the north, so the coloration wasn't  
quite the same as the locals (for amusement, compare our locals with  
this sparrow from my trip to oregon a couple of weeks ago. http:// 
www.flickr.com/photos/chuqui/1470372406/ ).

I'm still working through why this bird tripped me up. In fact,  
thursday night, I had it marked as a probably song, took a fresh look  
at it friday morning and talked myself out of it. If nothing else, it  
is probably a hint to trust my judgement and not over-think things...

And for what it's worth, the way I visualize the difference between  
song and lincoln's plumage: song sparrow is a felt pen, lincoln's  
sparrow is a sharpie...

> Also, I finally got some decent picks of a bushtit:
>
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuqui/1490228069/
>

> I also have a quick question on the beast. If you look at it  
> closely, it has the bright with pupil, not the black eye. Sibley's  
> flags that as an interior variation. Is that notable for this area?

As Bob and Mike noted, the differentiator for pacific and interior is  
actually the crown: grey crown, pacific, brown crown, interior. The  
eye color is actual a sexual differentiation -- Roy and Alvaro  
pointed out that the female's iris goes pale at the first molt; if  
the eyes stay dark, they're males. The Sibley's field guide only  
shows the pale eye on bird (the large desk book, the large edition  
shows it with both; if you know the species,  the field guide shows  
you what you need, if you're unfamiliar with the details, that can be  
confusing. It's a nice reminder that it helps to use multiple  
references (including this list!)

Again, thanks, all.



--
Chuq Von Rospach
[[email protected]]
http://chuqui.typepad.com



_______________________________________________
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.
South-Bay-Birds mailing list      ([[email protected]])
Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription:
http://plaidworks.org/mailman/listinfo/south-bay-birds_plaidworks.org