ML644345000

Observation details

I found a fairly distinctive junco with dark lores, a gray hood and pink sides that I initially believed was a good candidate for a Pink-sided. After discussion with Peter Gaede and Paul Lehman (and looking at some photos in Macauley), it was apparent that the bird was a bit off for a pure Pink-sided with the gray hood extending too much into the belly. It did appear to be a good match for some of the Pink-sided x Gray-headed photos in Macauley and in the field I had noted that the back showed a brighter reddish-brown tone at times. So I feed that the hybird combo is the right choice here. Peter and I did see such a hybrid combo out on SBI some years ago.