Streaking on VESP upper chest can converge and create an ostensible "spot."
VESP streaking is coarser and abruptly ends at the upper breast, i.e.,
belly is non-streaked and off-white. By contrast, juvie DEJU streaking
extends down into the belly, but AFAICT that may change as the bird matures
(??). Also note that juvie DEJU breast/belly streaking is finer.
Personally, I cannot imagine myself confusing a juvie DEJU with an adult
VESP -- but maybe that's because I've seen hundreds of each over here E of
the Cascades and am familiar with VESP behavior. After some thought, I
acknowledge that a birder inexperienced with VESPs could confuse the two,
so lauds to Dave for making the point.

Steve Loitz
Ellensburg


On Tue, Jul 5, 2022 at 12:04 PM Tom Benedict <benedict.t at comcast.net> wrote:


> Hi Dave,

>

> I hadn't seen a photo of a juvenile Dark-eyed Junco earlier, but now that

> I have I think it's very likely that's what it was. Especially given the

> habitat. The initial marking that I was focused on was the "spot" in the

> middle of the breast, which isn't anything I've seen in the online DEJU

> photos I've browsed. Also, the eye-ring was not as pronounced as the

> descriptions I've read for Vesper Sparrow either.

>

> I'm happy to call this a juvenile Dark-eyed Junco.

>

> Tom Benedict

> Seahurst, WA

>

> > On Jul 5, 2022, at 11:51, Dave Slager <dave.slager at gmail.com> wrote:

> >

> > Tom,

> >

> > Have you considered whether it is a juvenile Dark-eyed Junco?

> >

> > Dave Slager

> > Seattle, WA

>

>