OFO News June 2021 21 Lincoln’s Sparrow has a finer bill than Song Sparrow, useful as a secondary ID feature. And our mystery bird does have a thin bill. But it also has thick streaking and only a tiny hint of buff on the breast and sides, so Lincoln’s is safely eliminated. Vesper Sparrow often challenges birders, but it has distinctive field marks that enable a quick ID. One of these is white outer tail feathers, best seen in flight. However, we cannot see this feature in our mystery bird, so we will have to use other characteristics. The Vesper’s streaking is generally finer and more restricted to the breast than similar sparrows, with limited streaking on the sides. It shows a gray or brownish ear patch framed by dark feathers. It has a white eye-ring, often easily visible. The tail is quite long. Finally, the Vesper’s rufous shoulders earned it the historic name Bay-winged Bunting — a good field mark, if seen. Our mystery bird shows some of these features, notably a thin white eye-ring, a pink bill and an ear patch. However, the streaking is thick on the sides, the tail is quite short, and no rufous shoulders are evident. Vesper Sparrow is eliminated. As options become limited, many birders explore exotic pos- sibilities, perhaps scarcer migrants or even vagrants. Southern Ontario birders would be happy discovering a LeConte’s or Nel- son’s Sparrow. The short tail and neat white lines on the back of our mystery bird may get the sparrow enthusiast’s heart pound- ing when the bird shoots out of the thicket, but only for a short time. Both Nelson’s and LeConte’s Sparrows are variably orange on their face and breast, something our mystery bird lacks. The process of elimination leads to a surprising conclusion: the humble Savannah Sparrow. Birders may notice that this bird is not a typical southern Ontario Savannah Sparrow, which is usually quite pale, with fine streaking and prominent yellow behind the eye. However, the Savannah Sparrow is one of North America’s most variable sparrows, not only in plumage but also habitat, song and even size. Ornithologists have named 28 subspecies, many unidentifiable in the field, but some unique and extreme. In Ontario, during migration, our southern breeders are joined by birds from farther north — coastal birds from Hudson and James Bays and potentially even farther afield. On average, these are darker, larger and show only a limited amount of yellow in the lores. Our Photo Quiz bird likely belongs to one of these northern populations. This is when structure becomes an integral part of identifica- tion. While our bird has slightly different plumage than other Savannah Sparrows seen before, it still has the short, notched tail, fine pink bill, a small head that often shows a bit of a peak, and limited yellow in the loral area. Keep in mind that this yellow can be visible in a still image but is difficult to see in the field. So, a birder relying on seeing yellow lores may not consider Savannah Sparrow as a possibility. This is why it is important to use a combination of field marks — not just one — in an identification. Also, remember to consider other traits such as habitat and calls, when possible. And never stop learning! Some sparrow species show significant variation among different populations, reinforcing the need to make an ID based on a combination of features. This individual, seen in Point Pelee National Park on April 28, 2019, is considered more “typical” in plumage, at least by southern Ontario birders. Photo by Lev Frid Lev Frid, an Ontario birder with extensive experience as a park naturalist in Algonquin Provincial Park, is now a full-time tour leader for Rockjumper Birding Adventures. From the Editors of Ontario Birds WE WOULD APPRECIATE HEARING FROM READERS of Ontario Birds regarding topics you would like to see covered by the journal in the future. We are also interested in comments from readers about their experience accessing the online version of Ontario Birds instead of the print copy. Please contact us online (ontariobirds@ofo.ca) or by mail: OFO Editors, 1391 Mt. Pleasant Rd, Toronto, ON M4N 2T7. Finally, we wish to draw your attention to the value of eBird information in discussing a species in an article you submit to the journal. With exceptions such as information on sensitive species, most eBird data are open-access and can be downloaded for free, with the recommended citations included. You first have to request download access online (ebird.org/science/use-ebird-data). Then you can download the data for your species of interest and search the comments for appropriate keywords. Illustration: Barry Kent MacKay