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White-throated Sparrow?


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This sparrow, seen this morning in Lido Beach NY, has me puzzled. The yellow at the front of the eyebrow makes me think it is either a WTSP or a Savannah Sparrow but the head markings look rather drab for a WTSP and it doesn't have the breast streaks I'd expect on a Savannah.

sparrow-5.jpg

Edited by flightman
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17 hours ago, Avery said:

White-throated sparrow. I think this may be either a first winter bird, or a "tan-striped' adult.

Are tan-striped and white-striped technically two different subspecies?

It is both an immature (NOT a juvenile, which look like this; please change the age associated with this photo in eBird) and a tan-striped morph.

The white- and tan-striped morphs of White-throated Sparrow are no different from the color morphs in many buteo species, Reddish Egret, and Snow Goose. White-throated Sparrow exhibits what is termed a balanced polymorphism that is maintained because individuals of one morph (of either sex) prefer to pair with individuals of the other morph (see Sibley's summary).

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