This morning I drove out to one of my favorite sparrow spots and found a White-crowned Sparrow.
This spot seems to be good at attracting them, but for some reason, we get our fair share of the “Gambel’s” subspecies of this bird.
In fact, I think every bird I’ve seen here, whether immature or adult, has been this subspecies.
Gambel’s are rare this far east, so it’s kind of nice to see them.
Gambel’s (or Western Taiga) White-crowned Sparrows can be identified by the pale lores and bright orange bill. Below I decided to include a picture of our more typical White-crowned Sparrow with darker lores. There’s a black line in front of the eye that connects to the black in the crown.
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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