Ian asked about Fox Sparrows wintering in WA. I have looked into Fox Sparrow
distribution in depth and I can comment on his question.

First, I read over the article in Birding by Garrett et al., and agree with
their overall description of Fox Sparrow migration and wintering distribution
as it pertains to Washington. Of course there are a myriad of local details
that Garrett et al. would not be able to cover in such a paper. I have drawn
the following comments and information from; personal observation, the Field
Notes database (thanks to all those who have sent in records), banding
records, the literature, and museum specimens. I have examined specimens from
the Burke, Slater, and the San Diego County Museum on Natural History. The
San Diego collection houses most of Jewett's WA specimens. One important
collection that I have not visited is the Conner Museum in Pullman. I hope to
do that sometime in the near future.

COMMENTS OF FIELD IDENTIFICATION
The typical forms of each of the three groups are relatively easy to
separate. In WA the Red Fox Sparrow should stand out like a sore thumb. With
careful observation, Sooty and Slate-colored can be separated from each
other. However, as a word of caution, I have observed and handled a small
number of birds that I could not place safely in one or the other. My
assumption is that they were intergrades. As for field identification of
specific subspecies, I feel that I can safely identify only two of the 18 or
so races. One is P.i. fuliginosa which breeds at the north tip of the Oly
Peninsula. Its plumage color is dark, like dark Swiss chocolate, the color of
all the other races of the Sooty Fox Sparrow is more like American milk
chocolate. The other is P.i altivagans which is assigned to the Slate-colored
group. It can easily be passed off as a Sooty at first glance. P.i.
altivagans is somewhat redder than the other Sooty races, but more
importantly it has faint dark streaking on the back and the greater and
lesser coverts have faint white tips. No race of the Sooty should have either
of those marks.

RED FOX SPARROW
The only race recorded in WA is P.i. zaboria. There are a few reports (at
least two that I know of) in the literature of P.i. iliaca. The National
Geographic field guide only illustrates iliaca and make no mention of zaboria
at all. Thus, observers seeing a Red Fox Sparrow report it as iliaca unaware
that zaboria is the more likely race to occur in WA. I would call it a very
rare winter visitor. I have records of only nine Red Fox Sparrows in WA.

15 Feb 1920, collected, Renton, King
23 Apr 1922, collected, Seattle, King
3 Nov 1955, collected along the Snake River, Whitman County.
22 Oct 1979, Maryhill, Klickitat County
20 Dec 1983 until 5 Mar 1984, Ocean Park, Pacific
18 Nov 1995, Kent, King
14 Oct 1998, Mount Pleasant, Skamania
25 Oct 1998, Richland, Benton
12 Mar 2000, Spencer Island, Snohomish


SOOTY FOX SPARROW
Sooty Fox Sparrow is the group most likely to be observed anywhere in WA in
winter. All recognized races of the Sooty Fox Sparrow have been recorded in
WA. I think most Fox Sparrows in eastern WA in winter are most likely to be
Sooty. I do not know of any confirmable records of winter Slate-colored from
eastern WA. Nearly all winter records from eastern WA only refer to "Fox
Sparrow", with no comment as to what group it belongs to. I believe that as
more birders become aware of the differences between the groups, we will gain
a better understanding of what is going in east of the mountains. What goes
on with Sootys in western Washington is very interesting. In the Puget
lowlands, I have not seen or heard of a single verifiable record of P.i.
fuliginosa. All records are for races that occur further to the north.
However, along the coast most (not all) records are of P.i. fuliginosa. I
have not seen this apparent segregation of the races described anywhere in
the literature. In migration, at least some Sootys pass through the higher
elevations of the Cascades.

SLATE-COLORED FOX SPARROW
The Slate-colored group breeds in all of Washington's mountains, except the
Olympics. They seem to slip into their breeding grounds unnoticed as there
are very few records of Slate-colored from the Columbia Basin. My guess is
that they simply fly over the Columbia Basin, or they migrate up along the
higher elevations of the mountains. Again, I believe that as more observers
become aware of the three groups, our understanding of their migratory
patterns will become clearer. In the lowlands of western Washington, I
believe that the Slate-colored Fox Sparrow is best described as rare. I know
of only one specimen from the lowlands (P.i. altivagans from Seattle in circa
1923). The only other reports that I have of west side lowland Slate-colored
is as follows;

31 Mar 1996, Spencer Island, Snohomish
6 Jan 1997, McChord AFB, Pierce
12 Jan 1997, Point Roberts, Whatcom
14 Feb 1998, Lummi Flats, Whatcom
2 May 1998, Fort Casy, Island

These were probably P.i. olivacea, i.e. they were not P.i. altivagans. The
McChord bird was one that I caught and banded. I took many photos of this
bird, but about a week afterwards, my camera, with the film, was stolen from
the back of my van ( I can't win for losing). The other records are from a
single observer, Steven "Boom-Boom" Mlodinow. I think that, until recently at
least, Steve and I were the only people out looking for these birds. I'll say
it one more time, I believe that as more observers become aware of the three
groups, our understanding of their movements will become clearer. Ian
mentioned that he as seen one once in western WA. I do not have a record of
this, so, Ian, if you would like to send it to me, I'll add it to the list.

I hope this helps. I think that it is a very interesting complex, of which we
still have much to learn.

Russell

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Russell Rogers and Mary Moore
also, Emily Rogers, and soon, William Rogers
6637 Glenwood Drive SW
Olympia WA 98512
(360) 709-9870
mailto:rrogers at halcyon.com
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ian paulsen wrote:

> HI ALL:
> I just finished reading an article in the October issue of "Birding" by
> Kimball Garrett et al. about wintering Fox Sparrow populations and I was
> wondering about the wintering/ migrant Fox Sparrows in WA. I assumed that
> most of the wintering birds are of the "Sooty" Fox Sparrow type. I have
> heard of "Red" Fox Sparrows in migration and winter, but has anyone
> compiled records of this type? I have seen the "Slate-colored" Fox Sparrow
> once in winter in western WA. Has anyone else? What type of Fox Sparrows
> are seen in Eastern WA in migration and in winter?
> Sincerely
>
> Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen
> Bainbridge Is., WA, USA
> ipaulsen at linknet.kitsap.lib.wa.us
> "Rallidae all the way"