Greetings All,
Alas, the Fox Sparrow from Thompson Ranch is not a Sooty Fox, or not a pure one. The weak wingbars would be most unusual for a Sooty Fox, though the rare individual does show this. The streaking on the back is totally wrong for Sooty Fox. Also, the streaking on the rear flanks, if not also the sides, should be confluent or superimposed on underlying dusky brown. So, what is it? Not sure The bird fits altivagans Fox Sparrow rather well. These breed mostly in ne. British Columbia, and are variously assigned to Red or Slate-colored Fox Sparrow. At one time, Sooty Fox Sparrow was also thought to contribute genes to this "subspecies." Specimens from the breeding grounds show relatively little face patterning, like a Sooty, supporting that some Sooty genes are present. The back streaking is from Red Fox, though it is weaker than that seen on Red Fox. Same for wingbars. I am not totally positive that this is not a Red Fox x Sooty Fox Sparrow. These bird interbreed over a fairly broad area of s-coastal AK and are seen occasionally in coastal WA. The reason I think this bird may be a Sooty x Red Fox, rather than altivagans, is how very heavily and darkly (dark brown, no red) streaked below this bird is. Best Wishes Steven Mlodinow -- 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 https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
