Recently I have spent a lot of time bird watching and photographing. During my trips out I’ve discovered how
much fun sparrows can be and how pretty they can be when they actually “sit up,”
or perch in a place where they can be viewed and photographed.
Over the years I have never really been overly interested in
sparrows, other than that they are little,
brown, and can be difficult to see.
Until a few years ago I really did not see many of the differences in
the sparrows, which to me have seemed just
brown and striped…and I know I am not the only one that thinks this way. Recently, though, I have started to see the differences and slight
color changes, markings on the bird, etc.
I have chosen three birds to highlight and show a few differences. With two of them, just getting a photo
can be a challenge at times.
Savannah Sparrow (photo by Cathy Spahn)
The first photo is of a Savannah Sparrow, Passerculus
sandwichensis. During the fall, winter and early spring they can be seen in the St. Louis area; however, they
nest further north. I took this photo in early October while looking for shorebirds. I happened to be sitting in a bird
blind when a group of about four Savannah Sparrows popped up. I quickly took a few photos because
sparrows are not well known for sitting up for any length of time. Savannah Sparrow’s are a smaller
sparrow with a short tail, distinct facial markings and Malar stripe (a strip
just below and behind the lower mandible) like
you find on many falcon species.
LeConte's Sparrow (photo by Cathy Spahn)
The second photo is a LeConte’s Sparrow, Ammodramus
leconteii. This bird can also be found in St. Louis during fall,
winter and early spring. They also
nest to the north. I found this
bird about a week later than the Savannah with
another area birder. I was in the
blind as during the previous week, and this time we went for a walk into the
grasses. As we walked out this
bird popped up and then we saw about three other birds in the field. LeConte’s Sparrows have a central crown
stripe, orange forehead, buffy eyebrow, grayish ear patch and thinner bill than
other sparrows. This is a nice
find, since LeConte’s sparrows are not a sparrow that sits up for long. Most of the looks I have had over the
years are the bird popping up, flying a few feet, then disappearing.
The last photo is a Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow, Ammondramus
nelsoni. They winter to the south and nest to the Northwest of
St. Louis, so they are generally only seen during migration. This photo was pure luck. The day I saw the Savannah Sparrows I
just happened to catch a different sparrow out of the corner of my eye. I put my camera up right away and took
a shot. I figured if I got the
bird in the camera I could ID it later.
I tried to take another photo and the bird dropped out of sight. I tried looking for the bird, but never
saw it again that trip.
Nelson's Sparrow (photo by Cathy Spahn)
Later I worked on trying to ID it, but with no real luck.
Then I sent it to my Dad for extra help.
Lo and behold it was a Nelson’s Sparrow--similar looking to the LeConte's,
but with more orange and a bigger grey spot behind the eye and on the back of
the neck. I was very excited,
since this was a Life bird for me, meaning the first time I ever saw it.
The following week when I saw the LeConte’s I saw three more
Nelson’s and I could really see the difference between the two sparrows.
The one thing sparrows have taught me is there is beauty in
the simplest things, even LBJs (Little Brown Jobs).
All photos were taken at Riverlands Bird Sanctuary, in West
Alton, Missouri.
Submitted by Cathy Spahn, World Bird Sanctuary Naturalist
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