On Tue, 13 Feb 1996, Eugene Hunn wrote:

> I guessed Clay-colored. Maybe I was right?
>
> Gene Hunn.


Clay colored got my vote, too, though the habitat and season (very dry and
spring, respectively, to judge by the just-leafing-out acacia) convinced
another aquaintance to nominate Brewer's Sparrow. Unfortunately, the
democratic process doesn't always work with tricky IDs. The "answer"
givin seemed to cite the dark lores as the crucial point making the bird a
Chipping Sparrow. Seems reasonable in retrospect. I will have to consult
Kenn Kaufman's book and see what he says.

Incidentally, since the "new guy" took over the Birding photo quiz from
Kaufman, the explanations of the IDs have been a lot less satisfying,
haven't they? Whereas KK had a gift for guiding you through his thought
process in deciding how to ID a bird, taking small enough steps that an
ordinary birder could keep up, the new guy seems always to make a huge
leap from "it's a small gray bird" to "it's thus obviously one of the
western members of the _Dendroica_ genus," when it's not obvious at all
(to me)!

Chris Hill
Everett, WA
cehill at u.washington.edu


>
> On Tue, 13 Feb 1996, Maureen Ellis wrote:
>
> > Immature chipping sparrows and some wintering adults can have lighter
> > colored bills. Immature chippies can be especially challenging.
> > One of the many, many facts learned in my recent attendance to a
> > wintering sparrows workshop in SE Arizona. I also noticed that the 1983
> > edition of the Golden bird guide (keep in my UW office desk as a backup)
> > mentions the seasonal light bill, and maybe some of the other guides plus
> > Bent's Life Histories may also. Will check this out; I don't get
> > Birding, but a quiz slide of a young chippie stumped a lot of us at the
> > AZ workshop. Then again, it is also possible that the Birding quiz ID may
> > really be in error!!! I hope someone else will answer this.
> >
> > Maureen E. Ellis, me2 at u.washington.edu
> > ***********************************************************************
> > On Tue, 13 Feb 1996, MR HUGH A JENNINGS wrote:
> >
> > > The Dec. issue of Birding, published by the ABA, included a photo of a
> > > sparrow. The Feb. issue provided the answers to the Dec. quiz. The answer
> > > includes a detailed study of all the bird's features and why each leads to
> > > the final answer. In the case of this sparrow, a very distinctive feature
> > > was a very light yellow bill. However, the study did not mention this
> > > feature. The answer was that it was a Chipping Sparrow.
> > >
> > (snip)
> > >
> > > Hugh Jennings
> > > Bellevue, WA
> > > gfjc96a at prodigy.com
> > >
> > >
> >
>