Fellow birders,
In light of recent posts on identification of the Clay-colored Sparrow on
VA-bird and MD-Osprey, you might be interested to note a recent post on Mass
Birds by David Sibley and update to his blog yesterday regarding
identification of Chipping and Clay-colored Sparrows. As you know,
nonbreeding adult and immature Chipping Sparrows are very similar to
nonbreeding adult and immature Clay-colored Sparrows, but the Chipping
Sparrow has a more distinct dark eye stripe that continues through the lores
to the bill, whereas the Clay-colored Sparrow has pale lores and a weak eye
stripe that extends only behind the eye. In the above-noted post and updated
blog, Mr. Sibley pointed out that the Chipping Sparrow has distinct, narrow
whitish eye arcs above and below the eye that noticeably contrast with
darker surrounding feathers, and that the eye arcs are broken at the front
and back by the dark eye stripe, whereas the Clay-colored Sparrow has a pale
eye ring that blends in with just slightly darker feathers all the way
around the eye, not contrasting at all above the eye, and is broken only in
the back by the weak dark eye stripe. In combination with a broad pale
supercilium, this contributes to a lighter face pattern and an ³open-faced²
impression on the Clay-colored Sparrow because the eye is set in a broad
pale area. Mr. Sibley¹s blog can be found at www.sibleyguides.com
<http://www.sibleyguides.com/> and contains a link to pictures of these two
species that illustrate the foregoing differences in eye rings and facial
pattern.
An examination of other pictures of these birds in sources such as
www.roysephotos.com and Sparrows of the United States and Canada - The
Photographic Guide by Beadle and Rising indicates that the eye ring on the
Clay-collared Sparrow typically is less distinct than that on the Chipping
Sparrow, in part because the supercilium is whitish and the ear coverts are
buff-brown, as compared with typically buff and grayish-buff respectively on
the nonbreeding adult and immature Chipping Sparrows, and in part because
the eye ring typically appears to be narrower on the Claycolored Sparrow
than on the Chipping Sparrow and possibly buff or buff-tinged in whole or in
part on some individuals. This examination also indicates that the eye ring
on the Clay-colored Sparrow is not always broken at the rear, and that the
white upper eye arc generally is not as noticeable against the clean white
supercilium on the breeding adult Chipping Sparrow (which of course is
otherwise clearly distinct from the Clay-colored Sparrow). In addition to
differences in individual birds, lighting and angle could affect the
perception of the differences in eye rings in the field, and perceptions may
differ, which is suggested by a statement in a treatise on sparrows that
young Chipping Sparrows have "dark lores and a less prominent eye ring
giving a 'sterner' expression" as compared with the Clay-colored Sparrow
(emphasis supplied). See Byers, C., J. Curson and U. Olsson. 1995. Sparrows
and Buntings A Guide to the Sparrows and Buntings of North America and the
World.
In addition to the above-noted differences, the nonbreeding adult and
immature Clay-colored Sparrows differ from their Chipping Sparrow
counterparts in having relatively distinct dark moustachial, pale
submoustachial and dark malar or lateral throat stripes, a more distinct
pale median crown stripe, a more contrasting gray collar on the back and
sides of the neck and warmer buff-brown color on the breast, especially in
the fall. Another often easily-noticed distinguishing characteristic between
these species is the color of the rump, which is contrasting grayish on the
Chipping Sparrow and noncontrasting brownish on the Clay-colored Sparrow.
Gerry Hawkins
Arlington, VA
