ID Help please

[Bill Dix]

This was taken this morning in the grassy edges of a salt-water marsh at Sandy Hook, NJ. I didn't hear any song. I have no idea what it is; the best guess I can come up with from Sibley is a female or juvi Bobolink. I think the size is about right, but it just doesn't look the same -- especially the large eye and dark eyebrow. It seemed to have a hovering behavior before perching, but I didn't get a long look at it. I know this is a massive crop with lousy IQ, and I didn't get a side view, but maybe there's enough here for someone to help me. Thanks.

[Dave Blinder]

Nice find Bill, Salt Marsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow.

[Bill Dix]

Nice find Bill, Salt Marsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow.

Really? That's a first for me. I had ruled out sparrows because I didn't think it was a very sparrow-like bill. Thanks, Dave.

[John Chardine]

Bill- nice to see this species. If not a sparrow were you perhaps thinking female blackbird of some sort? Our North American "sparrows" which are in the family Emberizidae are closely related to our blackbirds in the family Icteridae. At one point a few years ago the two families and other families were lumped into one big super family called Emberizidae but they have been since split again. A nice cross-over species is the Dickcissel which has features of a female blackbird and a sparrow. In Europe our Emberizid sparrows would be called buntings.