[obol] "Gambel's/Puget Sound White-crowned Sparrow photos

[DAVID IRONS]

Greetings All,

Today Dennis Vroman reported seeing both Gambel's (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambeli) and Puget Sound (Z. l. pugetensis)  White-crowned Sparrows near his home in Josephine County.  Yesterday I had my first migrant Gambel's in my Eugene yard, and I had my first Puget Sound White-crowned show up nearly three weeks ago (24 March).  I took some pictures of both subspecies yesterday (13 April) and I have posted them at the following website (see link below) for those who are curious about such things.  Once you get a handle on what to look for, these two subspecies are readily separable in the the field.

One thing to note, Sibley shows Gambel's (he labels it "West Taiga) as having an all orange bill lacking a darker dusky tip.  This bird had a dark tip to the bill.  Some sources state that Gambel's can show dark on the bill tip. The overall bill color is slightly more orangish and a little brighter than the Puget Sound birds (labeled as "Pacific" by Sibley).  The Puget Sound birds have a duller yellowish bill that seems to always have a dusky tip based on the close-up observations of birds in my yard.  

If you hit the zoom in icon once you pull up these images, you should be able to see the differences described in the notes below each picture. 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/24148185@N07/?saved=1

Dave Irons

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