Date: Wed, 13 Aug 2003 20:26:52 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Toni & Bob Hartman Subject: sparrow ID help? MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Hi All - I just saw a sparrow in our back yard that I couldn't ID. Hope somebody can help: The bird acted immature - uncertain, etc. However, there didn't seem to be another bird associated with it. There were no other birds around at that moment, so it's hard to judge the size, but I would guess it was larger than a Chipping Sp., but not as large as a House Sparrow. The most obvious marking was bright white narrow supercilia extending well behind the eyes; the lores were white, with no yellow at all. The top of the head was medium brown (not reddish brown), with no obvious markings. The cheeks were mostly gray-brown, with some white markings. There were ill-defined smudges at the sides of the white throat, like those of juvenile Song or White-throated Sp. The white breast had a center spot and clear but delicate streaking, which extended down the flanks (like a Savannah except that I couldn't see any color under the streaks on the flanks). The long tail was square, or maybe slightly rounded, and mostly medium brown, except that the outer feathers were distinctly lighter - tan, not white. I couldn't see any markings on the belly or around the vent, but I didn't really get a good look at that. Nothing in Sibley east or in Rising and Beadle matches well, so I hope some of you can help. Bob Hartman Colesville, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================