>Just wanted to mention that last Fall at the Montlake Fill in
>Seattle I saw a Golden-crowned Sparrow (immature) which had def-
>inite yellow spots at the lores as well as the diffuse yellow on
>the fore-crown. It struck me as strange at the time but I attrib-
>uted it to my lack of careful study in the past and natural varia-
>bility; I was impressed enough at the time to make a note in my
>field guide that the "lores are sometimes yellow". I don't kw if
>the sparrow described on tweeters is a Golden-crowned but they
>can show these head markings.
>
> Jim Flynn

Critical mass of messages finally prompted me to look at the specimens in
our collection. Most of our winter Golden-crowns do indeed show yellowish
exactly where Al described it, a bit above and in front of the eye. It
would have to be called "supraloral" or "anterosupraocular" rather than
"loral." It varies from apparently absent (some) to faint (most) to
moderately conspicuous (a few). I didn't distinguish between adults and
first-year birds, but that might explain some of the variation.

I can't see it on the 2 Golden-crowns at my feeder, which just may mean
that at 25' or so it's not visible in most birds. It certainly sounds as
if that's what Peggi saw.

Dennis Paulson phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416