Sparrow ID?

[Bill Dix]

Despite all my field guides, I'm still sparrow-challenged. This was taken in coastal Maine last week. I had hoped it was a Lincoln's because the breast streaking is finer than a Song; but it lacks any buffy sub-moustachial stripe. It has no central breast spot. There is only a tiny hint of a yellow supercilium, but I'm guessing the pink legs make it a Savannah. The mottled rosy early morning light filtered through the green canopy give it a strange cast that may make the coloration difficult to use as a guide. Any help would be appreciated. I've posted a second view in the following pane.

[Bill Dix]

Here's another view.

[Dan Brown]

Hi Bill. Nice captures! My guess is hatch-year White-throated Sparrow. I can see the throat patch and malar stripe well here, along with the bold supercilium or eye stripe. The streaky breast also fits my guess. This time of year can be challenging to the birder, with all the young birds leaving the nests!

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Dan. I don't know why I didn't think of that. There were certainly a bunch of WTSP adults around. I suspected it was a young something but didn't think to look up the White-throats in the book. On the same morning, on this and several adjacent trees and shrubs, I also had first-year Yellow, N. Parula and C. Yellowthroat Warblers, and young Downies, all being fed by their parents. (Unfortunately all deep in the foliage, so no good images of the feedings.)

[Rick Poulin]

The second image clinches it for me. I concurr with Dan White-throated Sparrow.

[Bill Dix]

The second image clinches it for me. I concurr with Dan White-throated Sparrow.

Thanks Rick. Yes, I'm convinced that's right.

[P-A. Fortin]

I spotted this bird yesterday which reminded me of this post. It looks rather similar to me, yet a bit different.

Considering that I am much more up-north than Bill is (600-700km), could it also be a hatch year wtsp, but a younger one?

I also have a backview image that I could post if needed.

[Bill Dix]

Amazing similarity. I think my guy must have flown from Maine to Quebec to pay you a visit. I'll let the experts chime in on his age, but hatch-year WTSP seems to be the right ID.

[P-A. Fortin]

The side/rear view of the same bird

[Paul Guris]

Caveat: I am FAAAARRRR from an expert on molt and plumage, so if anybody out there notices a blunder below please don't hesitate to correct me.

I think it would be more technically correct (or at least more specific) to call these birds "juvenile" rather than "hatch year". I believe the plumage you're seeing here are the birds' first set of juvenile feathers. In many songbirds these feathers are put on fast to get them out of the nest, but they are of very poor quality. They quickly molt these poor quality feathers and grow in stronger ones before migrating south. This shortly held juvenile plumage can be very distinct from the immature plumage you see during fall migration. I remember seeing a recently fledged juvenile Prothonotary Warbler and other than a few yellow body feathers it looked like a black and white image of a Prothonotary Warbler. Very weird.

So I suspect that both of your birds will replace many of those feathers this summer and will become much more familiar immature plumaged White-throated Sparrows by the time they start heading south for the winter.

[Dave Irons]

In response to Paul Guris's discussion of hatch-year v. juvenile (or sometimes juvenal), one term refers to the calendar year in which the bird was born and the other refers to a plumage aspect. Paul is correct when he says that a "juvenile" or juvenile-plumaged bird is one that is still sporting its first complete feather set. Some birds, like sparrows only wear these feathers for a short time, then they undergo a complete body and head molt before migrating. Birds like Dark-eyed Juncos and Chipping Sparrows are heavily-streaked (and unrecognizeable to some birders) for their first month or so out of the next, then they go through a molt which results in them becoming unstreaked and looking much more like winter adults. The fall molt in birds is technically called a prebasic molt, as it results in their basic plumage (sometimes referred to as winter plumage).

The term hatch-year has nothing to do with what the bird looks like, it simply references a bird's age to the calendar year in which it hatched. For example, a bird that hatched in June 2011 will be considered a hatch-year bird until the clock strikes midnight and we ring in 2012, at which point it becomes an after hatch-year bird (AHY in banding terminology). Some folks mistakenly think a bird is in its hatch-year for a full 12 months after hatching, but this is not the case. For most birds, their hatch-year status lasts only about 6-7 months. It will then become "after second year" (ASY) when we ring in 2013. It makes folks' heads hurt to think that a bird is after second year when it is only 18+/- months out of the egg.

Dan Brown seems to have nailed the ID on this bird. From the front view (first photo) it looks like a juv. Song Sparrow, but the head pattern shown in the profile images is clearly that of a White-throated Sparrow. I didn't notice that anyone mentioned this, but the bright yellow flange at the base of the bill is a sure sign of the bird being a "kid." This bright yellow gape is actually thought to trigger an instinctive feeding response in the adult birds, thus almost all baby songbirds have this yellow or yellow-orange gape that is extremely bright and colorful when the begging juvs. open wide.

If you are curious about molt and how it can be used to age birds, a couple years ago (July 2009) I published a three-part series on "molt limits" in the BirdFellow.com online journal. It can be viewed at: http://www.birdfellow.com/journal/archive/2010/7

Dave Irons
Content Editor BirdFellow.com

[Bill Dix]

Thanks Dave. That's all very interesting. Especially the yellow gape in the youngsters, which I've noticed but never realized that it triggered a feeding response. I've noticed more month-old birds this year than ever before - probably because I've been out looking - and have been confused more than once by heavy streaking on these young sparrows.