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| White morph White-throated Sparrow in the apple tree © SB |
The White-throated Sparrows I'd seen (or noticed, anyway) last year were crisply marked — white head stripes, white throat, yellow lores (spots between the eye and bill).
Even their bright throats were clearly outlined, like the bird at right, one of the later White-throated Sparrows to arrive in my yard.
This year's first arrivals, however, were drab and very generically little-brown-bird.
But when I took shots for identification and displayed them full-screen on my 24-inch monitor — and significantly lightened the exposure, shadows, etc. — I realized these, too, where White-throated Sparrows.
There are a couple of options for the IDs of these browner bird, and perhaps a reader can help clarify this?
- I've seen several similar White-throated Sparrows on photo websites posted as immature birds, but my Stokes shows the immatures as clearly white-marked...
- There are also Tan-morphs of White-throated Sparrows, which my Stokes shows as looking fairly close to the brown birds in my photos, so perhaps that's what these are? And if so, I guess the bright white guys would be white-morphs...
In any case, that's what I'm leaning to here: #2. Tan morphs. Below.
And so, this year, both the White and Tan morphs of White-throated Sparrows showed up in my yard.
Which doesn't seem all that unusual, as apparently mated pairs "almost always include one of each morph." (Sibley guides info on White-Throated Sparrows.) And these birds pictured above and below were both in the same apple tree...
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| Tan morph White-throated Sparrow in the same apple tree. © SB |
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| Tan morph White-throated Sparrow on the ground. (Even more difficult to see its murky markings) © SB |
What are these? White-throated Sparrows, White morph Tan morph.
Location: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan.
Location: Backyard, Regina, Saskatchewan.
Photo date: May 11, 2013.
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