Sparrows - Field & Chipping

With the expert assistance of fellow forum members, I was recently able to identify the fact that the occasional Field Sparrow was infiltrating the megaflocks of Chipping Sparrows in my area. I hope the following captures will help those birders who struggle with Sparrow identification as much as I do. I've included a couple of images of Chipping Sparrows at the end for the sake of comparison.

1. Field Sparrow

Great shots, Steve; I seem to recall the pink bill is a big clue to the field sparrow's identity.
Al

CDMOOSE wrote in post #15760917
I seem to recall the pink bill is a big clue to the field sparrow's identity.
Al

Yep, that's a good place to start. Nice shots, too! Helpful to see comparisons like this!

Great series Steve, never knew that bout the pink bill ..thank you much ,I guess it is true you learn something every day .

Excellent series Steve!

Wonderful shots Steve, very cutie little birds and super sharp images.

Very nice shots. Just curious as too why the last two images of the "Chipping Sparrow" appear to have different colored beaks? Maybe just the lighting? I also struggle with identify the sparrows. We have loads of the American Tree Sparrow which has dark upper beak and yellow lower beak.

These are excellent shots. I had not given much attention to many of the birds in my area until I started photographing them. I've since realized there are many sparrows that I can not identify correctly. A series like this can be very helpful in positive identification, imagine I'll be coming back to look again soon.

CDMOOSE wrote in post #15760917
Great shots, Steve; I seem to recall the pink bill is a big clue to the field sparrow's identity.
Al

Much appreciated Al. I was told to look for both the pink bill and the complete white eye ring. Those 2 field marks have helped me a lot.

bimhoff07 wrote in post #15760978
Yep, that's a good place to start. Nice shots, too! Helpful to see comparisons like this!

Thanks Brad. The LBB's, as I call them, can drive one nuts so it's nice to add 1 more I can recognize to my list.

andrewhuxman wrote in post #15761043
Great series Steve, never knew that bout the pink bill ..thank you much ,I guess it is true you learn something every day .

Learn as we go don't we Andrew! I wish I could remember who helped me 1st ID these guys so I could thank them again.

Flo wrote in post #15761282
Excellent series Steve!

Thank you Miss Gail; always appreciated.

Lester Wareham wrote in post #15762057
Wonderful shots Steve, very cutie little birds and super sharp images.

Greatly appreciated Lester. These little millet-munchers are pretty cute.

SJC from VT wrote in post #15762109
Very nice shots. Just curious as too why the last two images of the "Chipping Sparrow" appear to have different colored beaks? Maybe just the lighting? I also struggle with identify the sparrows. We have loads of the American Tree Sparrow which has dark upper beak and yellow lower beak.

Thanks SJC. I looked back through about 20 pix I have of Chippers and the bill is mostly colored like the 2nd image, but a couple do have the black bill. I'll look into it further as I don't have a good answer for ya.

Grizz1 wrote in post #15763830
These are excellent shots. I had not given much attention to many of the birds in my area until I started photographing them. I've since realized there are many sparrows that I can not identify correctly. A series like this can be very helpful in positive identification, imagine I'll be coming back to look again soon.

Thank you very much G-1. My birding has definitely improved since I've started photographing them, and I like that this section of the forum has a lot of birders to help others out.

Beautiful images Steve. Very consistently done.

I like very much the last one.
Lovely series.

Great job with these Steve. That last shot is my favourite

Don1 wrote in post #15766920
Beautiful images Steve. Very consistently done.

Much appreciated Don. I'm hoping "consistency" doesn't mean stuck in a rut -

Charles Roy wrote in post #15767246
I like very much the last one.
Lovely series.

Thanks for the comments Charles. I like the last one too.

2slo wrote in post #15768202
Great job with these Steve. That last shot is my favourite

Your very kind Mark. It's always nice to catch one with it's crown fluffed for effect.

Wonderful shots throughout, beautifully captured in every way, Steve.