who can ID this bird?

[paulnj]

Took this yesterday at the hawkwatch(hawk migration was very slow)

So , what is it?

I will make birders out of a few of you if it kills me

[Chunk]

A young White Crowned Sparrow?

Boy, there are a LOT of sparrows.

[paulnj]

TOO EASY ;) You are correct.... 1 CONVERT DOWN ;)

Taken in LATE july in NJ ;)

GOOD LUCK ;)

[JSPhoto]

I would have guessed.... a bird!!!! lol, sorry Paul, I just could not resist. And trying to make a "birder" out of me probably would kill you However, I can ID some ships (WWII era), planes (WWII era) but after that I get lost in ID's....I even lose my own on occasion

JS

[Chunk]

I won't become a crazed birder, but I've always watched the birds around me while outdoors. I will never be able to seperate out all the little brown birds and warblers though. My Sibley's made this ID.

[paulnj]

That's a start ;)

The last image is a hard one... that is fledgling plumage, which Sibley doesn't show .

[srobb]

Something I would not mind doing, but don't have near the equipment (yet) to do it well. I have tried to shoot some of the finches at my feeder. My 80-200 just won't let me sit far enough away so I don't bother them.

[paulnj]

200MM can be perfect for feeder shots if you set up properly. These images are cropped from 400mm images, so I know what you mean by YET ;)

[mjs1973]

Is the 2nd one a Feild Sparrow by any chance?

[paulnj]

Why do you say that?

[schrackman]

#2 field sparrow, summer plumage.

[mjs1973]

Why do you say that?

Because it looks identical to the one in my book.

[paulnj]

You and Ray are right, but it's actually a MOLTING into 1ST fall plumage field sparrow

What's this? Shot august 12th in NJ

I will tell you this.... This image was debated over by some of the best birders in the NORTH AMERICA(california, arizona, massachusetts, ontario.....) and the Rare birds records commitee in NJ .

So , what is it ;)

[schrackman]

Because it looks identical to the one in my book.

LOL...and identical to the one I saw on a website!!

But Paul, I did not know you wanted such technical details as "MOLTING" into a "first fall plumage". I don't see any visible molting on the bird, but I'll take your word for it (probably because I really wouldn't know what to look for in molting on a sparrow).

As for the next bird, if some of the best birders can't agree on what it is, what makes you think we'll be able to ID it correctly?

[schrackman]

The closest I could come on this bird was Lincoln's Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii). I suppose it was early enough in the year that you could find it in NJ before it began to head south-southwest for winter, and I am guessing it is the female of the species. Is it MOLTING? I have no clue.

Of course I could be VERY wrong on all this and probably am.

[paulnj]

Ray.. the reason I pointed out the molting(nearly done) in the second image was to point out that it wasn't Summer as you said, but actually a first year bird.

Now here comes the fun.... see all that fuzzy white on my last sparrow, that is because the bird is starting to molts(meaning it had to be born locally).

I will give the last bird's ID tonight, but it isn't a lincolns.

[mjs1973]

I'm going with a Vesper Sparrow for the last one.

[paulnj]

Well actually.......

I submitted it as a possible golden crowned sparrow and after 2 weeks it was decided that it is infact just a FIELD sparrow molting into first fall plumage.

So look at the last sparrow then go to the previous field sparrow to see what happens in a week or so of molting these image were taken within 1000 feet of each other, but in different years ;)