ML118220231

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Media notes

One of two "Sooty" Fox Sparrows seen today and here photographed by Curtis A. Marantz on 28 October 2017 at Lake Tamarisk, Desert Center, Riverside County, California. These birds were found today by Richard Aracil and observed foraging in close proximity to one another.

Observation details

We saw more or less together on the ground in yards east of the southern lake two Fox Sparrows that both appeared to represent one of the Sooty subspecies. I managed to get photos of one of these birds, but as far as I could determine, the second bird appeared to be essentially identical. Both birds were observed quietly foraging on the open ground on the lawn or in planters. Both birds were relatively large sparrows with conical bills that tapered from a deep base to a pointed tip along a relatively straight culmen. The head was smoothly rounded, the neck was short and inconspicuous, the body was plump and with a horizontal posture, and the tail was relatively long, slim, and parallel-sided. Although both birds were seen in the shade, so the light was less than ideal, I thought both of these birds were rather uniformly a dark, chocolate-brown on the head, neck, back, wings, and tail. I noted some suggestion of a pale eyering, but I did not notice in the field any strong contrast between the head and neck, or the upperparts versus the wings and tail. Moreover, I detected no obvious streaking on the back, wingbars, or paler fringes on the uppertail coverts, and I thought the tail was at most very subtly more rufescent than the wings. The underparts of both birds were whitish with dark speckling or mottling across the breast and sides that seemed to continue onto the belly and flanks, but my recollection of the latter in particular is now a bit fuzzy. I also do not now have a clear recollection whether the markings below were more sooty to blackish versus dark brown, but I did not think they were obviously reddish. Both birds had dark eyes and bills that were mostly dark, but if I remember correctly, with yellowish bases to the lower mandibles.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

Lens

EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

ISO

1600

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/6.3

Shutter speed

1/400 sec

Dimensions

2789 pixels x 1864 pixels

Original file size

8.56 MB