ML412661581

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

*Probable SWSP; first spotted visiting the feeders around noon. My initial impressions were that it was a SOSPxSWSP hybrid, but after further observations through binocs and input from others, I am pretty sure this is a hatch year SWSP. Sparrow with buffy sides, face, and front. Compared to a SOSP it had a smaller bill, darker/neater streaking, shorter tail, and was smaller in size. Behavior wise, it acted a lot like a SWSP, wing/tail flicking when feeding on ground and it didn’t move around a lot. Potential hybrid field marks: the face seems a bit grayer than the average face of a HY SWSP. Also, as Marshall Iliff noted, the broad streaking and pale-ish malar are a bit odd for pure SWSP. There is very little known about SOSPxSWSP hybrids. There is only one documented record of the hybrid that I could find; an adult hybrid from Washington state. Since that bird was a different age and subspecies, comparing them isn't much use. The bird gave off high pitch SWSP calls and was very responsive to SWSP playback (not so much to SOSP playback). The bird visited the feeders every 5-10 minutes for the rest of the day. Going in between the feeders and phragmite patch across the road, the same patch of phrags that a SWSP overwintered last winter. Likely a SWSP and there's not much evidence to prove otherwise, but you can never be sure.

Technical information

Model

Canon EOS 7D Mark II

ISO

640

Focal length

400 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/1000 sec

Dimensions

2274 pixels x 1642 pixels

Original file size

247.66 KB