Need ID for 3 birds in New Mexico

[bjragucci]

These were taken in White Rock, New Mexico. 

 

[Jerry Friedman]

1. Virginia's Warbler

2. Chipping Sparrow

3. Mountain Bluebird

unless anyone disagrees.

[Dan]

hmmm... Wonder about (2).  Wouldn't a Chipping Sparrow have a brown cap and a darker/black eyeline?

[geoffclarke]

8 minutes ago, Dan said:

hmmm... Wonder about (2).  Wouldn't a Chipping Sparrow have a brown cap and a darker/black eyeline?

Not an immature one.

[bjragucci]

8 hours ago, Jerry Friedman said:

1. Virginia's Warbler

2. Chipping Sparrow

3. Mountain Bluebird

unless anyone disagrees.

Thank you for 1 & 3 , I'm familiar with Chipping Sparrows, this was bigger, there were quite a few around the area, and they all looked like the one I took the photo of. 

[psweet]

I'm thinking Brewer's Sparrow for #2 -- the lores do look dark, but they're diffuse rather than a continuation of the eye-line. The eye-stripe in a Chipping should interrupt the white eye-ring, this doesn't appear to do so. The malar is awfully strong for a Chipping as well.

[Jerry Friedman]

2 hours ago, psweet said:

I'm thinking Brewer's Sparrow for #2 -- the lores do look dark, but they're diffuse rather than a continuation of the eye-line. The eye-stripe in a Chipping should interrupt the white eye-ring, this doesn't appear to do so. The malar is awfully strong for a Chipping as well.

Maybe specifically the Timberline subspecies?

2 hours ago, bjragucci said:

Thank you for 1 & 3 , I'm familiar with Chipping Sparrows, this was bigger, there were quite a few around the area, and they all looked like the one I took the photo of. 

If you have a picture, even a bad one, that shows the nape, that could be very helpful.

[psweet]

I wouldn't want to speculate on the subspecies - field guides tend to underestimate the difficulty of doing subspecies ID, and typically don't even illustrate most of them.

[Jerry Friedman]

11 minutes ago, psweet said:

I wouldn't want to speculate on the subspecies - field guides tend to underestimate the difficulty of doing subspecies ID, and typically don't even illustrate most of them.

I was looking at Pyle and Howell's article, not a field guide, but I take your point.

[bjragucci]

9 hours ago, Jerry Friedman said:

Maybe specifically the Timberline subspecies?

If you have a picture, even a bad one, that shows the nape, that could be very helpful.

These are the only two other photos that I have.

 

[Jerry Friedman]

5 hours ago, bjragucci said:

These are the only two other photos that I have.

 

Nothing's showing up, unfortunately.

[bjragucci]

6 hours ago, bjragucci said:

These are the only two other photos that I have.

 

Trying again:

 

[Jerry Friedman]

Very interesting!  I'm now confused among three species: Chipping, Brewer's, and Clay-colored.  Hoping others will weigh iin.

[Jerry Friedman]

Speaking of which, Clay-colored Sparrow is rare here in northern New Mexico west of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, but three reported in White Rock on Sept. 16.

[psweet]

Yeah, that last shot looks like Clay-colored and Brewer's.

[Tony Leukering]

Yes, the clear collar, white central crown stripe, and stronger face pattern on the Clay-colored.  From the two pix that I can see, I wouldn't be sure about the other Spizella, as collar patterns in Chipping and Brewer's can be very similar.