[obol] Red Fox Sparrow continues at N. Luckiamute wildlife area, SE Polk Co.

[Joel Geier]

Hi folks,

I just spent 2.5 hours at ODFW's North Luckiamute Cooperative Management
Area, trying for a good photo of the apparent RED FOX SPARROW that Randy
Moore and I found during the Airlie CBC on Sunday.

I was unsuccessful in my photo quest, on account of being too slow on
the draw with the digital camera which my son Wil loaned me for the day.
I did get several more good views of the bird, first with naked eye as
it flew past me through a clump of trees and brush, at a distance of
about 12 ft on its way to feed in a soggy patch of ground with a lot of
bent-over grass, then with binoculars as it sat up briefly on a branch
at about 30 ft, and again briefly out in the grass which it seemed to
spend most of its time under. 

The bright rufous rump and tail really stood out when the bird flew
past. I also noticed that the streaks on the flanks were a rich reddish
brown, very distinct on the white background color, and nearly
continuous compared with the usual Sooty Fox Sparrows (several of these
were also around and were acting much more photogenic). When the bird
sat up in a bush, I also noted that it does have rusty patches on the
auriculars, though not contrasting with the gray nape so much as Sibley
shows for "Red (Taiga)" Fox Sparrow. As previously noted, the dark
rufous streaking on the gray of the mantle was very distinct.

After these additional looks I feel much more confident about calling
this a Red Fox Sparrow, though it still seems to be one on the more
gray-headed end of the spectrum so probably from the more western part
of the range.

It would still be nice to get a photo to address the taxonomic thicket
that we get into in trying to name Fox Sparrows. The bird does seem to
be staying around. Lat-long coordinates according to my GPS are:
  N  44 deg 44.165'
  W 123 deg 09.445'
The bird moved around an area of about one acre in that general vicinity
while I was there. I see the OBRC is taking reports on this as a
subspecies, since the AOU has not yet split the Fox Sparrow complex, so
I will write this up and send it in, and would encourage others to do so
if they can get any better looks and/or photos.

I didn't have any luck with the Harris's Sparrow which has also been
around this spot, but did hear a SWAMP SPARROW call a couple of times in
the area south of the Red Fox Sparrow spot. I saw a nice mix of other
sparrows including Golden- & White-crowned, White-throated, Song,
Lincoln's, Sooty Fox, and Savannah Sparrows plus Oregon Juncos and
Spotted Towhees.

A SHARP-SHINNED HAWK hanging around the area most of the time and some
wind probably accounted for the sparrows being more flighty than they
were on Sunday. Other nice birds in the area included two adult BALD
EAGLES that flew over just as I arrived, and a male NORTHERN HARRIER
that was pestering and being pestered by a RED-TAILED HAWK.

Happy birding in the New Year,
Joel

--
Joel Geier
joel.geier at peak.org