Several people responded tomy post about the Colorado Natl Monument Black-chinned Sparrow that to Urlingand me appeared to have a light-colored breast that contrasted with the grayhead. Looking at some of the pictures they sent, I suspect that part of thelight color stemmed from the contrast with the black throat. But not all. Wethought we saw it in good light; a cloudy day with the light coming from behindthe bird. Here are some comments that people sent. You can’t pull down any ofthe pictures from a website, though I’ll forward them to any who might want tosee them.
Dick Anderson: The new Stokes Field Guideto the Birds shows a color variation with a relatively light breast, noticeablydifferent from the head. This is identified as an adult male in summer plumage.Winter plumage show it with the breast nearly the same color as the head. Larry Griffin: Just a year ago today, I saw and photographed my lifer BCSP at Globe, AZ (attached). Upon checking that photo, it seems my bird too has a considerably lighter belly than its head. [Hugh’s comment: this one has a whitish belly, but gray breast; ours looked as if it had cream-colored belly AND breast.] JoeRoller:Maybe yousaw it in a bright light that washed out the light gray breast. JohnDrummond has photos showing a light gray breast, actually. I understand thatthe paleness of the breast is variable among the males and I will try to find a reference to that. Thisis a link to a photo of a BCSP shows an individual with a relativelylight-colored breast, giving it the appearance of a darker gray hood, perhapslike the observation you made. http://dwrcdc.nr.utah.gov/rsgis2/search/Display.asp?FlNm=spizatro Ithink that most field guide drawings show individuals with breasts that aredarker gray than this individual. NathanPieplow has audiotapes that we will analyze for the purity of its song, but tomy ear the song matches tapes for BC Sparrow. JohnDrummond: I think that the coloration of theupper breast depended on the your sight angle and the position of the sun. Seemy two photos of the BCSP taken on 4/13/2011. The first shows quite clearly agray upper breast just a tad lighter than the head , the second a very lightgray breast contrasting with the gray head . As it was singing in thesecond photo I am sure the puffing up of the breast feathers plays a part too.By the way I observed NB behavior and have reported as such to COBBAII . Myguess is that this is a second year male as the whitish belly comes quite a wayup the breast ( see Sibley ). Hugh Kingery Franktown, CO -- 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.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
