tags: Red Grass Bird, Marsh Sparrow, Swamp Finch, Swamp Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Swamp Sparrow, also known by a wide variety of other names, such as the Marsh Sparrow, Red Grass Bird, Swamp Finch, and the Swamp Song Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana, photographed on the Brazos Bend State Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 27 December 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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After all that excitement yesterday with lions and warring clans, I'm glad to see that the bird I'm leaning toward today has a genus name that puts me in a mellower mood. I'm actually not sure about the species, but the one that seems strongest to me, based on the gray nape and the dark rufous wings, has a specific epithet that brings to mind a performer whose portrayal by Jamie Foxx was the exception that proves the rule about how playing a real person is guaranteed Oscar bait.
Just an old sweet song, John?
Mossy tangled ground means a probable damp environment. I hope my selection is not all wet. We see these in Georgia during the winter months, Okee-dokee?
Every time I go away for a few days I come back to a Bunting. I'm sure Grrl does it on purpose. I think James Brooks gets it, especially as it's named after his state. (if it's the one I think it is).
Adrian, you also need to keep up with John (Ray Charles) and me (words to "Georgia on My Mind")!
I'm sure you all have it- there are really only three possibilities in that genus and the combo gray nape/rufous wing color should be clear enough- if you can see the supercilium and face, then gray in both supports, (as would a posterior eye stripe more brown than black)... buffy underparts, whitish belly, hardly any streaking if at all, rounded tail...
Ha, now I'm home it's plain that everything we would want to see is here, so take it away Ray:
Other arms reach out to me
Other eyes smile tenderly
Still in peaceful dreams I see
The road leads back to you
Hello David, the references to Ray Charles passed way over my head, not my genre of music. That's why I missed the clues from John and your clue about "song" put me completely on the wrong track. You could say I was "bogged" down and on sticky ground.
LOL Adrian, I was simply being a little flippand, however I did manage to find a genre more your style:
where Adrian prefers to get his feet wet
(I guess I should also point out that Sibley's totally neglects to mention that all three Melospiza species, the Song, Lincoln's, and Swamp are often found in wetland areas and that the first two are not confined to "brushy areas"!)
I suppose that to keep up our credibility, we should actually name the bird before Grrl does. So:
Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) based on the rufous in the wings, dark gray head, with distinct dark eyeline and lateral crown stripes, and the buff flanks.
These are always a choice find on Christmas Bird Counts around here. The first thing to catch the eye is the contrast between the dark head and the rufous rear half.
david: i didn't know you are an ex-pat. how long have you been an ex-pat? do you plan to return to your home country to live?
LOL David, this group and The Jam were the best things to come out of the Punk movement.