Since this blog is basically about birding, and bird photography, I have been sitting here pondering what to put in my next (this) post. Thinking back, I didn’t know a sparrow from a pigeon before I got into serious birding. Well, I guess pigeons were bigger, right? Anyway, now I have come to appreciate just how many species of birds there really are. In the area where I live, according to the people that know these things, there are thirty different species of sparrows alone.
To be perfectly fair, actually they are not all sparrows. Four of those species classified in the sparrow family are towhees, three are longspurs, and one is a junco. That still leaves twenty-two named sparrows, just here in the Concho Valley. There are more than fifty species including other regions of the country.
Like any other non-birder, I thought all sparrow looked alike. Wrong! Since I now consider myself a birder, albeit a little new at it, I have discovered that there are really many beautiful sparrows to be seen and photographed. You can see from the following examples.
House Sparrow
Pictured above is the common House Sparrow (Passer domesticus). Now I ask, isn’t this a pretty little bird. Nice rich colors of brown, with that little patch of gray on his head, and that black chest, not to be confused with the Black-throated Sparrow.
Black-throated Sparrow
The above is the afore-mentioned Black-throated Sparrow (Amphispiza bilineata). Another little cutie.
Lark Sparrow
Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammacus) Another pretty bird with distinctive markings that you can’t miss.
White-crowned Sparrow
Field Sparrow
Field Sparrow (Spizella pusilla). So these are five of my favorites. Now when you see a sparrow, take a closer look, and you may be surprised at what you see. Click on any image to see an enlargement.
Texas Tweeties by Bob Zeller 