Subject: Re: Juvenile Zonotrichia
Date: Oct 7 07:53:04 1997
From: Kelly Mcallister - mcallkrm at dfw.wa.gov


On Mon, 6 Oct 1997, Jon. Anderson wrote:

> But, this bird's had a well-defined white throat, rather than grayish,
> and there were black malar "mustache" stripes, bordering the white
> throat. Aha!, sez I, this is a White-throated Sparrow!!


Jon,

Last Christmas I saw a bird similar to your description in the Nisqually
Valley during my Christmas Bird Count. I returned a few days later
and viewed it through a spotting scope and took notes on its
characteristics. I wrote a somewhat lengthy description and posted it to
Tweeters. I will try to find it to refresh my memory. An archive search
perhaps... Aaargh (Let's see I think the subject was "mystery sparrow").

Anyway, your observations sound extremely similar to what I noted. I
ended up deciding it was probably just a juvenile white-crowned sparrow,
but that decision wasn't based on much research into other possibilities.

Kelly McAllister