Date:         Sat, 12 Apr 2003 17:42:33 -0400
Reply-To:     Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Michael O'Brien <obrienm@ALGORITHMS.COM>
Subject:      Re: Sedge Wren Safari and Two Sparrow Questions
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Don,

Listen to the song of Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrow on your bird tape. It
comes very close to your description of the possible Henslow's Sparrow.
Songs of both Henslow's and Nelson's could be phonetically rendered as
"see-lick" but compare overall quality and especially the length of the
introductory note. Both Saltmarsh and Nelson's Sharp-tailed Sparrows likely
occur in Eastern Shore marshes at this time of year even though records of
Nelson's are few. Henslow's has been gone as a breeder on the Eastern Shore
for at least 15 years and is unlikely to occur in a slatmarsh. But you neve=
r
know.

Michael O'Brien
West Cape May, NJ

----------
>From: Don Burggraf <dburggraf@HOTMAIL.COM>
>To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM
>Subject: [MDOSPREY] Sedge Wren Safari and Two Sparrow Questions
>Date: Sat, Apr 12, 2003, 4:27 PM
>
>
>First, I heard a song which I can reasonably narrow down to the two
>Sharp-tailed Sparrows.  I don=92t have enough confidence in separating those
>calls from each other.  However, the Yellow Book seems to indicate that in
>the Spring, the likelihood of Salt-marsh would be greatly stronger.  Does
>anyone out there know whether the indication in the Yellow Book accurately
>shows the population strength, or rather reflects a lack of data about thi=
s
>recently-split pair of species?
>
>Second,  I heard another call, as boring as it was dull as it was regular.
>See-lick=85  See-lick.  I puzzled over the call until I remembered the
>description of Henslow=92s Sparrow.  I have seen Henslow=92s Sparrows before,
>but never heard one.  I noticed on a species list in the house at Irish
>Grove, Henslow=92s Sparrow has been reported in the area.  When I returned
>home, I quickly found my Stokes=92 CDs of bird songs, and found Henslow=92s
>Sparrow. My first reaction was, =93That could have been the bird I heard.=94
>However, it seemed that the habitat was wrong.  This call came from a mars=
h.
>  Not only do Henslow=92s Sparrow more typically inhabit weedy fields, they
>spend most of their time on the ground.  In Kauffman=92s Lives of North
>American Birds, he mentions that Henslow=92s Sparrows can show up in
>non-typical habitats in migration.  But even he didn=92t say anything about =
a
>marsh.  Does anyone out there who knows more about Henslow=92s Sparrows than=
 I
>do have anything to say about whether one could ever be found in a marsh?

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