I just went out to the far reaches of the yard looking for him and found
him with a mate in a thicket. I caught him singing and it sounded somewhat
like a chip, chip chip, burrrrrrr.
If I could hear the sound of the call, I think it would make a positive
id.
Nancy
Renton, WA.
n.lander at comcast.net

----- Original Message -----
From: "Hal Opperman" <hal at catharus.net>
To: "Nancy" <n.lander at comcast.net>
Sent: Monday, March 15, 2004 3:36 PM
Subject: Re: [TWEETERS] Fox Sparrow


> Nancy:
>
> Sounds Fox Sparrowish all right. There are several subspecies. The ones
we
> usually get in Puget Sound in winter have dark brown heads (as dark as
the
> back), but some of the others have gray heads. We have had a Hermit
Thrush
> in our yard all winter, which is unusual (normally they show up for a
few
> days at most in migration). We used to have Fox Sparrows regularly, but
they
> disappeared when we stopped feeding birds -- grew tired of supporting
the
> Rock Pigeons, House Sparrows, and squirrels.
>
> Hal
>
> On 3/15/04 3:16 PM, "Nancy" <n.lander at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> > Thanks Hal,
> > We have had Hermit Thrushes here in the past and they are larger, but
> > similar in markings. This is definately a sparrow with the shorter
legs,
> > tail and bill, but I had difficutly identifying which one. This bird
is very
> > dark brown with a gray head (no stripes on the head) and not as much
white
> > on the breast as a Hermit Thrush. Occasionally he comes up to the
feeder
> > which I do not think a thrush would do. At least the photo I have is
closer
> > in the Audubon field guide to a Fox Sparrow.
> > Nancy
> > Renton, WA.
> > n.lander at comcast.net
>