ML132883231

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

Even for a Harris's Sparrow, this was a brightly colored and boldly marked bird that I think is safely considered an adult. As far as I could determine, the entire forehead and forecrown were black from the base of the bill to at least the peak of the crown above the eye, behind which, there was at least some whitish or pale gray speckling on the rear part of the crown back to about the nape. The supraloral, superciliary, and auricular regions all typically appeared to be a rich-buff color when seen in the field, but at least one of my photos shows a pale gray suffusion on the auriculars. The lores and the lower part of the face were about the same shade of buff as the superciliary region, so this bird had a rather plain-faced appearance, apart from the crescent or semicircle of chestnut coloration at the rear border of the auriculars that, as far as I could determine, was not obviously connected with the eye by a postocular stripe. I also noticed some chestnut coloration on the back of the neck, but I cannot recall the precise pattern. The back and scapulars were medium-brown with bold and well-defined streaks that I thought were black. The rump, however, was paler, slightly more grayish, and unmarked from the insertion points of the wings down at least to (if not through) the uppertail coverts. The wings were also boldly marked, with two well-defined wingbars that were produced by white tips to the greater and median coverts that contrasted with black centers, and in the case of the greater coverts, narrow edges that I think were light brown. The remiges also had blackish centers that contrasted with well-defined fringes to produce a striped pattern on the rear part of the wing. On most of these feathers, the edges were more rufous than the rest of the upperparts, but those on the innermost secondaries were more whitish distally, so the edges were both bolder and more conspicuous than those on the other feathers. I also thought the exposed primary tips were dark brown with only narrow fringes. The pattern on the upperside of the tail is now unclear in my memory, but it was certainly dark and probably with some sort of paler fringes to the feathers. Given that this bird was typically seen on the ground and often facing away from me, my views of the underparts were not as good as those of the upperparts. What I can say with confidence is that the throat was solidly and broadly black from the chin down to its junction with the breast and probably out to the edge of the malar region, where it was sharply demarcated from the buffy face. The breast, sides, and what I could see of the belly were white, but there was a bit of black and maybe also some chestnut streaking at the sides of the breast, and at least some sort of a necklace across the center. I am much less sure about the pattern and coloration of the flanks, and I do not think I ever saw either the undertail coverts or the underside of the tail. The bill was a deep-orange color, but possibly darker at the very tip. I noted the color of the eyes only as being quite dark, and I now have only a vague recollection that the legs and feet were orange.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D

Lens

EF400mm f/5.6L USM

ISO

800

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/7.1

Shutter speed

1/400 sec

Dimensions

2200 pixels x 1702 pixels

Original file size

4.15 MB