Yes, Another Sparrow!

We are cranking through May..as we did April..March, before I know it we’ll be setting up for the haunted trail event scheduled for end of September. The haunt lab is in full swing repairing all the items that failed on us last year. Once through that we shift into our favorite part of the year – creating new animations and decorations for our guests to enjoy. Things have been busy in the rest of the Intrigued departments as well. Regular ol’ Santa’s Workshop summer edition. Brad is currently checking in with our headquarters out west while I’ve been trying to get images ready to go for future posts. In addition, trying to get caught up on all the homestead tasks. The latter has come to a halt thanks to multiple days of steady rain giving me badly needed cycles to get today’s featured feathered friend post out.

Hit the jump to learn more about this rather colorful member of the Sparrow family.

My last three posts have put a spotlight on members of the Passerellidae family, also referred to as the New World Sparrows. This is a rather large family with 43 members that includes the Lark Bunting, Juncos, Towhees and yes, those troublesome Sparrows.

Note, the US Bunting named birds are scattered all over the place. As mentioned, the Lark is in Passerellidae, the Snow Bunting is in the Calcariidae family with the Longspurs, but most are found in the Cardinalidae allies family (Lazuli, Indigo, Varied, Painted, rarer Blue and even rarer McKay’s).

Sparrows can be a tricky lot and thus the “troublesome” description. They mostly live in the brown realm with limited differentiation to the untrained eye. In some cases a hint of yellow to orange on the face can be the critical key where a dash of white or buff can make the difference or minimally narrow the field down. Today’s specimens (yes, there are multiple here) are one of the easier Sparrows to identify.

If you had to name this particular bird, you would be hard pressed to find a better one that is more descriptive and easier to spot in the field. The Black-Throated Sparrow indeed has a Black Throat and probably gave the ABA a significant amount of heartbreak not getting to call it some obscure, only bird in hand characteristic to use as a name (birders, you know that I am talking about). Spot that black throat and assuming familiarity with the size and shape, you only need to differentiate between three other Sparrows to get this one checked off the to-research list.

The Black-Chinned species has a similar black patch under the chin, but is limited to the chin (no mystery there) and it is set against a very gray breast and head. Add in the pink bill and you can pretty much check that off the option list. For the record I have been chasing after the Black-Chinned for several years now without success – been in the right place, Merlin has detected it, but nothing in the tin to date.

That leaves the Five-Striped and the Harris’s. I went after the Five-Striped in the Madera Canyon area this last March and failed to find it. It is considered the hardest Sparrow to find in the US due to its very limited range in southern AZ (and down into Central America). It was a big disappointment missing that check – we will be back to get that for sure. If you do happen to be in that region you can distinguish it with the white stripe down the middle of the black throat.

Now, the Harris’s I know well (why do they insist on not using the standard s’ option!?!). Once you experience a Rattlesnake in the pursuit of a bird, you tend not to forget it (link here). This species does have a full black throat, but that patch also extends up and right through the eyes and onto the top of the head – at least for the adults. The immatures tend to have a less developed black patch in which case you can look for the pink bill to knock them off the options list. They also lack the white striping seen on the head of the Black-Throated species.

Your greatest chance of regional overlap is with the Black-Chinned and the Five-Striped as they all hang out in the southwest in varying degrees. The Harris’s prefers a narrow regional section starting from the middle of Texas northward into Canada. If you are not specifically looking for the Five-Striped, do not let it concern you. In the case of the Black-Chinned vs the Black-Throated, the color “white” will show you the way as that does not exist on the Chinned.

I was a bit surprised when I processed the shot above in the digital darkroom. At first I thought I had accidentally overlaid another image on top of that shot as I got some ghosting in the background bokeh – for the non-photographers out there, the term referring to the blurred and oftentimes splotches of light that can occur behind a subject. Can you spot the anomaly? It looks exactly like a close-up of a bird’s eye in the lighter circle right above the head of the specimen. Curious, I went back through the treatment history and confirmed that was not caused by anything I did. “In the woods, you are NOT alone!” Ha (link here).

With the ID characteristic out of the way, let’s talk about a few other aspects of this Intrigued debuting Sparrow. I find this particular bird extremely easy to find in its wintering grounds. They were particularly easy to find once we moved further west from our more traditional spots along the Rio Grande Valley. This year we made it to Falcon State Park and plan to finally make it out to Big Bend National Park during this year’s winter migration. By the time we made it to Salineño Wildlife Preserve they were abundant, running along the ground darting in and out behind the desert shrub. More will be coming in future posts regarding Salineño as that place is definitely on our list to hit again.

These photos, however, were taken during our Arizona trip back in January of 2024. That was my first encounter with this Sparrow while we had stopped at an RV resort in Benson. As I am apt to do with new lifers, I smoked a digital card trying everything I could to get something in the tin worthy of showing our loyal readers. Maybe it was the heat, the brief views as it darted to and fro among the cactus and low shrub or just my hand shake from the excitement, but 99% of those shots ended up hitting the darkroom floor. Even these that made it are not my best work – apologies for that. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again, thank god we moved on from the film age.

I am happy to say I was able to get much better shots on or recent trip out there so look for them in saaaayyyy 2028 or beyond hehehe. The “break the seal” phenomenon was in full effect after that first encounter as I was able to find them in just about every stop after Benson to the south and the west. These shots are also coming to you from Catalina State Park, Saguaro National Park West and the Desert Museum so keep your eyes open if you happen to be in any of those areas. In contrast, I have yet to find them in their supposed breeding grounds even though I have been in southern Nevada (Las Vegas) many times.

Not much I can pass along with regards to interesting facts about the Black-Throated. Cornell does mention they are quiet foragers so you’ll need to rely on your eyes over your ears to locate them – quite the opposite for the rest of their family members where you tend to hear them long before your eyes can sift through the browns. Keep your eyes in the lower scrub around 3 feet and down. Breeding season is considered the best time to spot them as they are extremely territorial during nest building and will aggressively attack intruders – Cornell was not specific if that included humans carrying large black bazookas hehehe.

Will leave it there for now folks. Hope you enjoyed this look at a new Sparrow for Intrigued. Wish me luck, tomorrow I head back to the surgeon to see what the next steps are for my ankle. Not sure what diagnosis I want to hear – no mechanical anomalies, get used to the pain or rather the ligaments/tendons are severely damaged and time for the knife. I look back in fondness at the years when I used to bounce.