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Savannah Sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis |
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The bird pictured in the two pictures at the top is an adult of a type sometimes thought typical of residents in the saltmarshes around San Francisco Bay. It shows darker brown striping overall, with some black; the white central crown stripe is indistinct or absent; and the yellow in the lores and supercilium is relatively bright and extensive. |
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The birds left and above, photographed near San Francisco Bay but not in salt-marsh habitat, have an appearance sometimes associated with Savannah Sparrows found in grassy hillsides in the Bay Area -- paler colors, less extensive and narrower streaking on the chest, broader more distinct central crown stripe, and relatively pale supraloral yellow. It is an open question whether the grass-dwelling and marsh-dwelling Savannah Sparrows of the Bay Area are of different subspecies, and if so, to which they should be assigned. "Belding's," the dark salt-marsh subspecies found in Southern California and Baja, is sometimes considered a possible separate species, and some have thought the Bay Area marsh birds would fall within that group. |
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Left, possibly first-winter birds of the salt-marsh type. |
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The bird above has a bill that seems large enough to qualify it as of the Large-billed (Rostratus) subspecies, which is likely to be split off as a separate species. But neither the plumage nor the habitat is right -- these are salt-marsh birds, with dark upperparts similar to Belding's, but (unlike Belding's, and unlike this bird) no yellow in the face. It was found in grassland habitat, and is presumably a typical Savannah with an unusually large bill. |
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Here's a Savannah photographed on outer Cape Cod, Massachusetts, in Spring. |
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