>I hope someone can help. I spotted a sparrow at one of my feeders this
>weekend that I couldn't ID. Minimal streaking on chest, speckled head
>(brown with lighter speckles) and three spots of yellow; one on either side
>of the beak in front of the eye and one in the middle of the forehead.
>There was a white eye band on the lower eyelid.
>
>It rather looked like a grasshopper sparrow but I couldn't make a positive
>ID. Any ideas?
>
>Thanks in advance.
>
>Peggi

Peggi, there isn't a sparrow, to my knowledge, that has yellow spots where
you describe them, except for the possibility of the very rare hybrid
between White-throated and Golden-crowned sparrows. Maybe you and Al
Jaramillo both have such birds in your yards! Grasshopper and Savannah
sparrows aren't too likely at feeders, so I'd start with birds that are.
Not knowing the extent of your familiarity with birds, I'd go back to the
basics and hope I wasn't insulting you by asking if it could be one of the
House Finches that has yellow instead of red on its head.

We need more description, especially relative to other birds at your
feeder. Size? Wing bars? Relative tail length? Dull brown, reddish
brown, buffy brown?

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