For those of you who followed the previous thread, you know my attempt to
identify the three quiz birds in
February's edition of "Birding" magazine was correct for two out of three.
The Ferruginous Hawk and the Ruddy Ground-dove were right, but the Henslow's
Sparrow I miss-identified as a Baird's. I have yet to get all three, at this
rate I never will, but I will learn something in the attempt. I take some
solace in knowing that
this was a tough one; they used side-by-side photos to show the differences
between these two sparrows. In retrospect, I was swayed by trying to make
all
three birds into Southwest specialties. It makes me realize how much I use
geography to make some of these tough calls, and how many vagrants may be
missed for this reason.
There isn't much time before the June edition comes out, and it is time to
try again. Quiz bird #1 in the April edition shows the back view of a gray
passerine, about to fly away. The wings and tail are dark, with notable
white wing bars. There is an irregular patch of red feathers on
the bird's lower back, just at the base of the tail.
After the beating I took with the sparrow, if think
they are trying to make up with this one. How many birds are there that
combine this shade of gray and red? Not many, and when you add in the
tail,wings and wing bars there is only one left. I call Quiz bird #1 a Pine
Grosbeak. I am not sure if the irregular shape of the red rump feathers is
typical, or due to molt. Interestingly, there is some variation in how the
backs of Pine Grosbeaks are shown in my field guides. Sibley's, Kaufman's
and Nat Geo all show a side view with a hint of a red patch on the rump.
Peterson's has the best view of the back, but he shows more diffuse redness
across the back than we see with the other guides, or in the Quiz Bird. At
any rate, a Pine Grosbeak it is.
Thoughts, corrections, and other ideas welcome.

Cheers,

Jack Stephens
Edmonds, WA
jstephens62 at comcast.net