Editor & Proofreader

Editor: Nelson Poirier    Proofreader: Louise Nichols

Thursday 15 March 2018

March 15 2018

NATURE MONCTON INFORMATION LINE, March 15, 2018 ( Thursday )
 

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Edited by: Nelson Poirier nelson@nb.sympatico.ca
Transcript by: Brian Stone bjpstone@gmail.com
Info Line # 506-384-6397 (384-NEWS)

 
** Non breeding plumage sparrows of those that we have with us breeding in N.B. in the summer can be confusing when we see them in the fall or winter. Jamie Burris shares a nice example of that with a sparrow that he photographed in his Riverview yard on October 14, 2017. It is a CHIPPING SPARROW [Bruant familier] that has gone from its familiar summer plumage to what is suggestive of a winter adult that the Sibley guide suggests takes on that plumage from August to March. The Chipping Sparrow in all plumages has a dark eye line, however that line extends in front of the eye to the beak to leave the black lore. That is a significant small feature that suggests a Chipping Sparrow identification over other winter lookalikes. The dark bill of the summer breeding plumage gives way to a pale lower mandible with a darker, grayish on the top ridge of the upper mandible that shows so well in one of Jamie's photos. 


Nelson Poirier,
Nature Moncton




CHIPPING SPARROW (NON-BREEDING PLUMAGE). OCT 14, 2017.JAMIE BURRIS 

CHIPPING SPARROW (NON-BREEDING PLUMAGE). OCT 14, 2017.JAMIE BURRIS