Greetings tweeters,

I apologize for not being able to respond to the posting from John Williams
sooner. I have been out of town all week.

First let me give my usual disclaimer whenever people try to identify Horned
Lark subspecies. I have looked at hundreds of lark specimens at most of the
major museum collections on the west coast, plus the collections at Cornell
University and the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. I did this to
increase my ability to identify subspecies. Instead of walking a way with
increased confidence that I could do such a thing, it was just the opposite. I
think that the best way to describe such an activity is a "fools folly." That
said, I will now attempt to not make a fool of myself.

I would like to congratulate John Williams for two very nice photos of a FEMALE
STREAKED HORNED LARK.

Actually the photos are of the same individual (note that the shape of the
greatly worn greater coverts are identical in both photos).

There are several reasons that I believe this is a Streaked Horned Lark. For
ease, I will bulletize my thoughts in no particular order of importance.

It is a female because of the limited amount of yellow in the face
(particularly in the auricular area) and the lack of horns.

It is a fairly well marked female strigata (but not outside the range
of normal), however, most merrilli males would be duller than this bird. This
bird shows faint yellow wash below the neck band. Merrilli in any form, and any
other subspecies for that matter, would not have yellow below the neck band.

Dispite Mike Patterson's hinting that the dusky pectorals indicate that
this is a Dusky (merrilli) Horned Lark. I have to disagree. I have never seen a
merrilli Horned Lark, in any plumage, with this degree of darkness in the
flanks. Merrilli almost always shows white on the flanks, breast and belly.

Do not put any stock in the common names for these subspecies (i.e.
dusky, streaked, etc.). The names offer NO CLUE WHATSOEVER as to how to
identify the subspecies!

Also, do not put any stock into using Sibley as a guide to identify
subspecies. Don't get me wrong, it is a wonderful field guide, however, his
Horned Lark page is very misleading. What his illustration is good for is to
show the amount of variability that Horned Larks have across North America.

I also find that Pyle is misleading for identifying strigata. I have
never been able to make any sense of what he means by "streaking on the rump."
Contra to that, I certainly have never seen streaking on a bird as Sibley
illustrates it either. I have talked about this with Kimball Garrett at the LA
County Museum. He said that he goes by the "streaking," or perhaps a better way
to say it is "smugging," on the flanks and the yellow wash below the neckband.

Further, I know of no specimens of merrilli on the west side of the
Cascades. I don't recall any published accounts or museum specimens from the
west side at all, that does not mean that there are not any, I just don't know
of them. If anyone does know of any, please let me know.

If I am correct in saying this is a female Streaked Horned Lark, then this
would be very exciting in that the bird seems to be carrying nesting material
in one of the photos! John states that the photo was taken in early March,
which in most years would be early for nesting activities for strigata.
However, this spring has been very mild. Streaked Horned Larks have not nesting
in the Portland area for over ten years, as far as anyone knows.

If anyone has any other thoughts about these photographs, I would be happy to
hear it.

Russell



-------- Mike Patterson wrote -------------------


Given the lack of streaking on the rump (though admittedly
not the best views), I think this is _merrilli_ (Dusky Horned Lark).

Pyle places emphasis on two characters: the width of the center
streaks on the upper tail coverts (this bird appears to have none). and
the amount of yellow in the face, throat and below the breast
band (this bird is yellow in the face and throat and washed
yellow but not bright below the breast band, it also has dusky
pectorals).


-----
Can those of you familiar with the Streaked Horned Lark
point out how to separate the subspecies? I took photos
of a pair of Horned Larks in the fields off N. Lombard
Avenue on March 9, 2003, and I've posted two examples
to
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/jwwdvm/birdstuff/interesting/interesting.htm
(Except for resizing, the photos are unedited.)
-----

--
Mike Patterson
Astoria, OR
celata at pacifier.com

A child who becomes acquainted with the birds about him
hears every sound and puzzles out its meaning with a cleverness
that amazes those with ears who hear not.

-Neltje Blanchan

http://www.pacifier.com/~mpatters/bird/bird.html


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