I shot this image today at the Viera Wetlands in Florida and have no idea what it is. We have slaved over four different bird books with no luck. I think it is some kind of sparrow, but I am not sure what. How about a Song Sparrow?
Mac- This is a female Red-winged Blackbird. What is difficult with species like this is that the male and female look very different. Males are very characteristic but females of the species are more like several other species. This bird does superficially look like a sparrow but notice the relatively large size and classic "blackbird' shape to the bill. The habitat is right for Red-wing too- reeds ad wet, marshy places is where they breed.
Last edited by John Chardine; 03-12-2009 at 05:42 PM.
John-
You are absolutely right. I think we had been looking at sparrows, warblers and even some pine siskins a good part of the day, and you get used to looking for those, and there is no indication of the size of the bird, but it is a great deal bigger than most sparrows. As an asside I am going to include what I beleive is a pine siskin. Lret me know what you think. Thanks for your help.
This one looks like a Savannah Sparrow Mac. The Pine Siskin is superficially similar but daintier, with a thinner bill and white (female) or yellow (male) wingbars.
Obviously we aren't worth a **** with sparrows and I am beginning to think nothing else. I have only been at this for 35 years. I think maybe I'll just give up. Thanks again.
ID?
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