Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Vesper Sparrow

I found another new species (to me) in Live Oak Canyon near my home over the weekend. 
The vesper sparrow has a white eye ring; a pale spot outlined in dark  just below and behind the eye; a long dark brown tail with white outer tail feathers; light brown upperparts and light underparts, both with darker streaking; and a chestnut shoulder patch. 
In Roman Catholicism, vespers is an evening prayer of thanksgiving and praise. The vesper sparrow's song is a "combination of clear whistles and trills...often heard at twilight, roughly the same time as Catholic vesper services." 

I misidentified it on iNaturalist, pointed out by several people, but one person was kind enough to explain why my identification was incorrect. 

1 comment:

  1. I love the connection to the Catholic vespers, and its orange beak and legs are awesome.

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