What is this little brown bird? It was sitting on the ground, eating seed, at the Deer Haven Preserve in Delaware county. It looks like a song sparrow, but it is smaller, has a much smaller bill, and a noticeably shorter tail.
The mystery bird is in the foreground- a typical song sparrow, for comparison, is in the background.
My guess, based on a quick perusal of Sibley's Guide, is a Lincoln's sparrow, but it's not quite a perfect match. What do you think?
Tom
I'm leaning toward Savannah Sparrow, Tom. I've looked at the All About Birds site, too and they have a shot that almost matches yours in terms of coloring. Yours is plumped up more, but everything else looks right to me.
ReplyDeleteFeel free to disagree.
Sparrows baffle me.
I buy your Savannah Sparrow... When I was at Deer Haven, I was only looking at the "thick billed" savannah in Sibley, but you're right, it's a good fit for the more typical looking ones. I need Jim to see this.
ReplyDeleteThanks Nina!
It looks like a Savannah to me also.
ReplyDeleteThanks Lynne- The consesus is that it is a Savannah Sparrow. How unusual are these birds during Ohio's winters?
ReplyDeleteConsensus...It's early. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for so nice bird ;) I lice it!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you figured it out. I love seeing new sparrows, but they can be hard to figure. You got such great shots of it!
ReplyDelete