I need help identifying this bird. It’s been visiting our yard in the San Francisco East Bay for about a month now. At first, I thought it was an immature White-crowned Sparrow, but now I’m thinking it’s an immature Golden-crowned Sparrow. With Project FeederWatch coming up, I want to make sure I have the right ID. Thanks!
A couple other options for bird identification: (1) according to Project Feeder Watch you can send them a photo if you are unable to make an identification after trying more conventional means (see http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/AboutBirdsandFeeding/BirdIdentification.htm) and (2) if you have a Flickr account, you can upload photos to the Bird Identification Help Group (http://www.flickr.com/groups/bird_id_group/). Even when I’ve shared poor quality photos (blurry, dark, etc.), the people there have been very helpful and they’ve always come up with the bird’s identity.
Thanks, Deb! That helps a lot. 🙂
this is a gorgeous photo!!!! great job! so what is your FINAL decision?
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Thanks! I’ve decided it’s a 1st year White-crowned Sparrow. It showed up a couple days ago with two mature White-crowned Sparrows, with the distinctive black and white striped heads. I so wish I’d captured a photo of one of them!
No clue.. It’s interesting how attractive these brown and grey birds can be.
Aren’t they cute?
According to the Sibley’s (2003) guide here, I would say it’s a 1st Winter White-crowned Sparrow for two reasons. One, the bill of the Golden-crowned Sparrow is supposed to be grayish, and the bill of the White-crowned Sparrow is supposed to be pinkish-orange to orange. Two, the eyebrow is clearly defined on the White-crowned Sparrow and more plain, indistinct on the Yellow-crowned.
Kudos on the camera work though, I can’t even get my dog to stay in focus let alone a tiny bird.
Hm, it does look like the photo of the White-crowned Sparrow in my Audubon Western Birds book, except the one in our backyard has a yellowish stripe on the forehead.
Yes, Sibley’s shows a narrow yellow-ish stripe on the crown 1st winter; and it says the Pacific variety has a yellower bill than the other variety. It’s possible you have Golden’s there though as the Winter is when they should be coastal Calif.
Thanks for the clarification on the 1st winter marking. It’s such a cute little bird. I’m watching it hop around out in the yard right now! With the juncos and towhees…
Good id picture. Try UC Davis winter sparrow pics. I think you’re right about Golden-Crowned. http://nrs.ucdavis.edu/quail/natural/Birds_towhees.htm
From that photo, it does appear to be a Golden-crowned Sparrow with winter coloring.
Looking forward to what you learn! I’m a newbie at bird ID, so I hope to learn from this too.
Sometimes, they don’t look quite like the pictures in the bird books, and the descriptions can be confusing.. but I’m learning!
He’s a cute little guy 🙂
I think so, too!