Need bird ID help

[LVSteve]

Been noting some odd bird calls around here lately. Today I spotted this critter mixed up with the House Finches. It's sparrow/finch size, but with finer lines. I've been rooting through the Allaboutbirds website to no avail. Reconciling the streaked breast with those face markings seems to be the problem.

Any ideas?

 

[oldbrownhat]

No idea but get the Merlin bird app from Cornell for your phone and it will ID it from the call

 

[rwsmith]

White-Crowned Sparrow?

 

[Onomea]

 

[LVSteve]

No idea but get the Merlin bird app from Cornell for your phone and it will ID it from the call

I don't have a recording of the call, unfortunately.

 

[LVSteve]

That would have been my first guess, but none of the photos I could find online showed one with the distinctive white lines that didn't have the very obvious black throat. I'm guessing this example is just starting to get his adult plumage.

 

[LVSteve]

Of course, just to mess with our heads, there is this female from the Caribbean.

Western Spindalis

Apparently specialized for life on islands, the Western Spindalis is widespread in the Caribbean, but it seldom visits the mainland. In our area it is a rare visitor to southern Florida. Most records...

www.audubon.org

 

[mrchick]

It appears to be a juvenile.



Versus an adult.

 

[oldbrownhat]

I don't have a recording of the call, unfortunately.

But since you've "been noting some odd bird calls around here lately", Merlin will ID whatever it picks up.

 

[mrchick]

Merlin will also play you recordings of the species. You can compare that to what you are hearing.

Check out this bird - Black-throated Sparrow

Merlin Bird ID is a free app that helps you find more birds.

merlinbirds.org

 

[DHernandez]

Merlin couldn't tell me this one…

 

[Peak53]

Yes, Merlin is fast and accurate with both photos and calls. Just yesterday I was hearing a call I couldn't ID. By the time I found the app, the song quit. Then a couple of hours later I heard it again and quickly this time opened the app. Within 3 seconds it had identified the call as a Northern Flicker. Now, I see Flickers almost daily but had never heard the call or maybe not paid attention to it. Now I know the rest of the story.

 

[Peak53]

I don't know your bird, but it doesn't look like the white crowned sparrows I have here. They stay and I feed them all winter.