I observed this young bird being fed by a parent. The adult was obscured by leaves, so could not get a definitive ID. Habitat is scrubby woodland/reclaimed farm field. Image made 5-28-12 at Ritchey Woods Nature Preserve, Fishers, Indiana.
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I observed this young bird being fed by a parent. The adult was obscured by leaves, so could not get a definitive ID. Habitat is scrubby woodland/reclaimed farm field. Image made 5-28-12 at Ritchey Woods Nature Preserve, Fishers, Indiana.
I'm not a great resource for juvenile sparrow ID, but I'd say that this bird was in the genus Spizella which includes Chipping and Field Sparrows. Birds in this genus tend to be smallish, kind of dainty, with round and almost petite heads. The bird doesn't look robust enough to me for Song Sparrow. If I had to bet ten bucks, I'd look at the plain face, pinkish stubby bill, and what seems to be an incoming eye ring and call it Field. I think Chipping's bill should look longer and more pointed, and the face in juvenile plumage should be streakier. (This is all off the top of my head so you might want to look at a real resource.)
FYI, juvenile sparrow plumages (and those of many other songbirds) can be difficult for people because they last for such a short period of time. These birds put on a full set of feathers very quickly to get out of the nest, but this first set is of low quality. Within 2 months or so they'll molt them out for a whole new and higher quality set before it's time to migrate. So the immature sparrows you see in September aren't actually in juvenile plumage since they've already gone through a full molt of their juvenile feathers.
I'm with Paul on this one, looks like a Spizella sparrow. Down in that part of the world you might have to consider Clay-colored Sparrow as well (although the vegetation in the image looks a bit lush). Identification would be facilitated if you have shots of the front of the bird as the amount of streaking helps narrow down the three candidates. I doubt if you will be able to make a definitive ID on this one but I lean towards Field Sparrow.
Thank you Paul and Declan. I appreciate the info-it really is quite helpful. Field Sparrow makes sense to me. I wondered about those pink legs. Here is another view of the bird from the side, as it is being fed by the parent.
Hey Julie,
The pink legs are good but don't help us much in distinguishing among the Spizella. Indeed many nestlings may have more pinkish legs than they will later in life so it can throw you off. In this case the adult has pink legs so it is a useful mark. This view does show more useful info and although I still won't be so bold as to say the ID is a cinch it does look pretty good for a Field Sparrow. Juvenal Field Sparrows tend to have grayer heads than the alternatives (this was visible in the other image as well) and the streaks look too bold for a Chipping Sparrow. On the down side the little one can see of the adult does not look quite right for a Field Sparrow but maybe it is just the angle. Keep in mind that none of the Spizellas under consideration occur in the areas I frequent!