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Post by Randy on Apr 15, 2012 9:02:32 GMT -8
Hi everyone, My parents are visiting and spotted this white bird yesterday in my yard. It was seen again this morning. I'm guessing it's a leucistic junco and thought others might be interested in seeing it. It seems to spend it's time between the brambles/blackberry bushes on the east end of the lagoon and the southwest corner of my yard. It tries to forage on the ground but it often flushed away by some of the sparrows. Here are some pics - generally poor but what can you do.     And a Lincoln's sparrow from my yard this morning just because!   I'm interested in hearing others' comments. Randy |
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Post by Gord on Apr 15, 2012 11:14:19 GMT -8
Randy, cool looking bird! A junco was a good guess as that species seems to be a bit more prone to having leucistic traits. However, I lean towards a sparrow based on some streaking on the flanks where it is not white. I thought possibly a Song Sparrow but the streaks seem a bit crisp and the posture and proportions could fit a Lincoln's Sparrow. Ironic you got a nice picture of a Lincoln's Sparrow too. Good work documenting the white bird!
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Post by Randy on Apr 15, 2012 20:36:42 GMT -8
Thanks Gord for the opinion. I was thinking more about it after reading your post and I would suspect if it was a junco then the beak should still be pink, and it does not appear to be in this bird.
The bird continued throughout the day today, at least until the sun went down. Hopefully it sticks around - it adds some nice variety to the yard. Hopefully I can get a better picture at some point.
Randy
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Post by Randy on Apr 17, 2012 8:01:20 GMT -8
This bird was present again yesterday throughout the whole day. The more I look at it, it seems more like a song sparrow than a Lincoln's, although obviously I don't have much experience with these kinds of birds. If anyone is in the area and interested, it's a neat bird to see! Randy |
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Post by murraybrown on Apr 17, 2012 15:26:28 GMT -8
Randy, there was a Song Sparrow that used to reside in Campbell Valley Park a few years back that looked a lot like your bird. Although it had less white and looked like a miniature Bald Eagle. It became very tame and used to haunt the board walk for handouts.
Like you, I believe that this bird is a Song Sparrow.
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Post by Harrier on Apr 19, 2012 9:17:22 GMT -8
Randy, there was a Song Sparrow that used to reside in Campbell Valley Park a few years back that looked a lot like your bird. Although it had less white and looked like a miniature Bald Eagle. It became very tame and used to haunt the board walk for handouts. Like you, I believe that this bird is a Song Sparrow. Are any of that bird's progeny still around? I remember seeing that bird for a few years always at the east side of the north boardwalk, then one year there were at least two others with varying degrees of leucism in the area. |
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Post by Randy on Apr 19, 2012 15:55:36 GMT -8
I have been to Campbell Valley a few times over the past number of months and haven't seen any of these. On another note, the one in my yard has continued to hang around though.
Randy
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Post by martin on May 3, 2012 11:33:19 GMT -8
Neat looking bird. Randy
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