Swamp Sparrow Weirdness

Swamp Sparrow Weirdness



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The other day I found some odd-looking Swamp Sparrows. For comparison, I thought I’d first show a couple normal-looking Swamp Sparrows. These top two photos have either no streaking or very diffuse streaking on the breast.

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This one below has streaking a little more well-defined, and I’m no good at aging sparrows, but I think this suggests that this is a first year sparrow, since juveniles have clear streaking on the breast.

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Swamp Sparrow

But yesterday I found this Swamp Sparrow. It was in deep cover, so my photos are really pretty bad. But the streaking on this sparrow below puzzled me. It was so dark and well-defined that I actually sent these photos to our listserve to confirm that in fact this is a Swamp Sparrow and not a Lincoln’s. Anyway, it looks like this is just a strange looking Swamp Sparrow, I’m guessing a first year sparrow with streaking left over from its juvenile plumage.

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Swamp Sparrow

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Swamp Sparrow

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Scott Simmons

Scott Simmons

Scott Simmons, based in Florida, is a lover of nature, landscape, and wildlife photography. Scott became interested in photography in 2001 when he was given his first SLR camera. When he acquired a telephoto lens, he became progressively more interested in birds and other wildlife. Scott enjoys learning about bird habitats and behavior, striving always to take images that are both beautiful and interpretive. Scott believes photography is a great vehicle to help others to appreciate the wonder for the stuff of earth.

Scott Simmons

Scott Simmons

Scott Simmons, based in Florida, is a lover of nature, landscape, and wildlife photography. Scott became interested in photography in 2001 when he was given his first SLR camera. When he acquired a telephoto lens, he became progressively more interested in birds and other wildlife. Scott enjoys learning about bird habitats and behavior, striving always to take images that are both beautiful and interpretive. Scott believes photography is a great vehicle to help others to appreciate the wonder for the stuff of earth.

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