This evening within a mile of my new home outside of Meadowlands, MN (St. Louis County) I observed a pair of tree sparrows at a corner where the gravel roads run in three directions. Tree sparrows are numerous along all the local roads and fencerows but these two kept to themselves, picking up gravel busily. One had normal markings but its companion had an eye-catching gray head above the characteristic dark facial band or supercilium. Straight back through the crown was a black stripe that almost seemed like a dividing groove from front to back rather than darker feathers. There was no red on the crown. The forehead just above the bill was white. But the back striping, the white wing bars, the red side markings just below where the wings join the shoulders, the two-toned bill with yellow lower mandible and dark upper were true to the tree sparrow species and a match with the second bird. The black stickpin could also been seen though it was a little less bold than on the normally-marked tree sparrow.
Checking between a few tree-sparrow websites I saw that the immature bird is streaked, so maybe this bird was some sort of semi-albino. Aging, as in human aging with baldness and graying, would have been my late dad's explanation for the sight, but he liked fanciful reasoning for things like bird coloration. Meanwhile I was eliminating any hoped-for evidence to take home that a tree sparrow and a golden-crowned were traveling together. -- *Tanya Beyer* Watercolor/mixed media flora, birds and wildscapes are available for viewing or purchase at http://www.etsy.com/shop/EpiphaniesAfield *Tanya Beyer Barcikowski - d.b.a. Epiphanies Afield, Natural History Art from the North American heartland * See and order note cards, frameable prints and original art at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/EpiphaniesAfield Artworks can be viewed at mnartists.org - search by name: Tanya Beyer Want a signature like mine? <http://s.wisestamp.com/links?url=http%3A%2F%2Fr1.wisestamp.com%2Fr%2Flanding%3Fpromo%3D21%26dest%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.wisestamp.com%252Femail-install%253Futm_source%253Dextension%2526utm_medium%253Demail%2526utm_campaign%253Dpromo_21> CLICK HERE.<http://s.wisestamp.com/links?url=http%3A%2F%2Fr1.wisestamp.com%2Fr%2Flanding%3Fpromo%3D21%26dest%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.wisestamp.com%252Femail-install%253Futm_source%253Dextension%2526utm_medium%253Demail%2526utm_campaign%253Dpromo_21> ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
