Bill,
Great photo! As you suspected, this is a juvenile Horned Lark. Juvenile Horned Larks and adult Sprague's Pipits present a classic identification problem, one that was covered by Tony Leukering in his "In the Scope" article in the most recent issue of Colorado Birds (April 2009). Among other key field marks, your excellent photo shows the clincher: the primary extension. This bird's primaries extend far beyond the tertials. In Sprague's Pipit, the tertials are so long and the primaries so short that the primaries are barely visible on the folded wing. I appreciate the opportunity that you gave me to review and improve my own ID skills. Nathan Pieplow Boulder At 07:58 PM 6/29/2009, you wrote: > I saw a pair of these birds in short prairie grass near the Big >Johnson reservoir in Colorado Springs. They could also be juvenile >horned larks. > > Any comments on their species are welcome. > >Picture is at: http://avoapples.com/birds/img_0265_web.jpg > >Thinks, > >Bill > > --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Colorado County Birding: http://www.coloradocountybirding.com/ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.as/group/cobirds?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
