Juvenile birds in the fall - The white-crowned sparrow

There are certain times of the year when identifying birds takes a little extra effort.  Fall is one of these times.  Adults may have recently moulted off their breeding plumages and are now attired with their non-breeding feathering.  That in itself is a bit of an issue, primarily if you rely on a bird field guide that shows only adults during the breeding season.  Well-illustrated books will have both winter and summer examples of the various species.  It becomes even more complicated when you are trying to identify juveniles.

I took the above photo yesterday at one of my favourite birding haunts (Munson Pond in Kelowna).  I photographed one bird, a Lincoln's sparrow, and needed help in finally identifying it (thanks to Ian Walker from British Columbia Birds Facebook group).  As I was examining the rest of my images, I came across another bird that I was unfamiliar with.  Yellow beak, rusty cap, eye stripe, and wing bars - what could it be?  There was a similar image in my Peterson field guide - a juvenile white-crowned sparrow - but it wasn't an exact match.  So, I then went online.

I really like the website "All About Birds."  There are numerous photos of each species at different places in development.  I scrolled through the section on white-crowned sparrows (click here to see it) and found an almost identical match.  At this point I felt certain about my identification.

At times when I am still unsure I will go to one of the birding Facebook groups I belong to.  It took little time for one of the members to reply to my query.  A Lincoln's sparrow.  Cool.  At least I don't have to ask that about the juvenile white crowned sparrow I photographed.  I think I nailed that one.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com