Unidentified Flying Dinosaur: So Pretty

This is one of the best bird photos I’ve ever taken. It’s not the most visually fascinating bird I’ve ever found. The contrast is rather unfortunate – brown bird against brown background, urg. I had to use a lot of zoom and crop, so the resolution isn’t spectacular. But look at the pose it struck and try to tell me it’s not one of the most adorable birdies ever.

Mystery Bird I

How cute is that?

I only got one other shot before it went and hid in a tree.

Mystery Bird II

Still. Hopefully, these shots are enough for identification purposes, and I’m delighted with that first one. It’s not often birds strike an actual pose for me.

This was at Browns Point Lighthouse, on the South Sound, for those who want to know where ye little brown bird originated. I have a feeling we’ll discover its species has a range of just about everywhere when you’ve identified it, though. It seems like one of those types of LBBs to me. And that’s all I shall say, except that I love it for being a good sport for a few seconds.

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Unidentified Flying Dinosaur: So Pretty
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12 thoughts on “Unidentified Flying Dinosaur: So Pretty

  1. rq
    1

    A species of sparrow? Or a female finch of some kind.
    It’s hard to say, it blends so well with its surroundings and I don’t have the time to look at the detail, I’ll check back in to see what others say!
    (The pose in the first shot, though – gold.)

  2. 5

    It’s hard to see the bill, but it doesn’t look heavy enough for a finch, therefore a sparrow. I was hopeful it might be a Savannah Sparrow, but it’s not stripey enough. What I think you’ve got there is the all-to-common House (English) Sparrow, female version. Unfortunately it’s an introduced pest.

  3. 6

    Female house sparrow. Told apart from other sparrows by the narrow white wing bar and the white stripe over the eye. Great pic of one too! As Trebuchet says, they are introduced from Europe. They displace native species for food and nesting locations. They are very destructive to bluebirds, entering their nests and killing the brooding bird and clutch.

  4. 7

    Take your pick:
    http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/browse/39,16/
    My guess is the rather common Song Sparrow, or (female) House sparrow. They can have different markings when juveniles, so it can often be hard (at least for me!) to pin down the exact species. Also, there are only a few sparrow species common to the PNW (Now, sparrow identification in Az could get really tricky!).

  5. 8

    Female house sparrow – one of the most common invasive birds on the continent. Dana, I hereby offer a free birding lesson next time we meet. Birds are so much more interesting than this one would suggest…

  6. 11

    Oh great — another bird-name change for me to remember! I’m still trying to get used to the Marsh Hawk becoming the Northern Harrier, and the Baltimore Oriole changing to the Northern Oriole, and back.

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