How closely do you look at birds? There are some birds that are our easy for me to identify, often just by their shape. With other species, I rely on their coloration.
Then there are sparrows, which force me to look very carefully for subtle differences in the markings on their bodies in order to identify them. I thought that House Sparrows (Passer domesticus) were relatively easy to identify—I can readily tell that the bird in the second image is a House Sparrow, but what about the one in the first photo?
The markings on its the head are a different color and the bill is definitely lighter in color. The light orangish pink at the bill makes it look like the bird has lips. So, what kind of sparrow is it? It too is a House Sparrow, possibly a male like the one in the second shot. At different phases of their developments, the plumage of birds changes, which adds another level of complexity to bird identification.
So when I spot a bird, I have to take into consideration, its gender, age, and phase of development as well as the season of the year, habitat, and the geographic location. It sometimes feels like a miracle when I am able to identify any bird correctly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I am a beginner in spending time with birds.. I really enjoy your posts.. thank you..
Thanks. I didn’t start to worry about identifying birds until I started photographing birds. I have learned a lot over the years about my subjects, but I am far from being an expert. More importantly, though, I am perfectly happy spending a lot of my time with common birds, unlike some birders who are more interested in finding new birds to add to their “life lists.”
I’m with you, Mike, they are so tough to identify. You’re guess is as good as mine. For some reason I feel the top bird is a female. I do think you’re right about the second one being a male.
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I have narrowed the possibilities for the first one to either a non-breeding male or a female, but don’t know enough to make a definitive call. 🙂
I was thinking the same thing about Hawks, the immature hawks in New England all seem to look the same from the front. There are a few differences in head marking and breast feather colors and leggings. Spot identification difficult!
The more I get into bird identification, the harder it seems to get. It’s hard enough with the males and females of many species often closely resemble each other.
[…] House Sparrows […]
The first image is a female House Sparrow Mike.
Thanks for the confirmation, Brian. It is hard for me to get an experienced birder to make a call for me here. 🙂
One of my favorites. House (English) Sparrows are all over NYC. I grew up feeding them in my alleyway 😀😀. Probably the reason I photograph today. Thanks, nice shots.
Thanks, Ted. As I recall, New York City was the first place in the US where House Sparrows were introduced and they have since spread across the country.
That’s right 😀, same thing with the Starling. There are actually flocks of Parrots too, been around for years. I had 2 parrots and when I had the window open others would fly around the fire escape calling to them. 🤣🤣
Wow. I knew about the starlings, which seem to be flourishing, but I had no idea there were parrots in the “wild.” It is not such a big deal for us in the US, it seems, but I know that in other places like New Zealand they are hyper-vigilant about protecting themselves from invasive species.
Conures, South American parrots, escaped from JFK in the 50’s. Got comfortable LOL
Your images show tiny details my eyes cannot capture/recognize when I’m out with binoculars watching birds … grateful for your posts! Always something new to add to my appreciation of the wide variety of details on any bird, plus sharing vicariously your thrill at identifying individual birds.
Thanks, Jazz. I love to capture the maximum amount of details that I can. There are some really subtle variations among species and among individual and if I have a detailed shot, it’s easier for me to ask for help with identification.
I have to admit to calling most birds like this “birdy-birds” when I see them. I do enjoy looking at them and seeing your photos.
🙂
I think what come to our feeding station are House Sparrows, but it’s a real challenge to ID them with confidence because there are so many pages of sparrows in the field guide, they never stop moving so i can get a good look at them, and they all look so similar. These photos helped! We’ve seen a pair of towhees recently, which is notable because they had never visited us before; we had only seen (or more accurately heard) them in the park.
Looking forward to spring!