Hi tweets,

The two Horned Larks that Ed Schulz, Yvonne Bombardier and I saw on Jetty
Island in Everett last sunday were the first HOLAs I've seen on the west
side. What was interesting was that the two were noticably different in
color, with one being much paler on the back, and with paler yellow facial
markings. I couldn't discern any difference in patterning, just all the
feathers were a couple shades paler. I know HOLAs vary in color between
different subspecies - is there a chance that single birds of two
subspecies were together? Is there any information about which races
migrate through or winter on the west side?

I know ID to subspecies in the field is full of pitfalls - I'm just
interested in the possibilities.

Cheers,

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