One common sparrow and one not so common sparrow

[Maestro]

I'll start with the old lowly house sparrow which seemed to look better down on the Martin Refuge in Edinburg, Texas. These house sparrows also did not overwhelm the other birds as they do elsewhere. There were plenty more aggressive birds around to do that, but at least those were native species. :)





Now for the not so common sparrow; It's the olive sparrow which is very rare for the US, but locally common in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. They prefer the dense brush, are shy, and are basically a Mexican and Latin American species but they do make it up to the Valley of Texas.

This particular olive sparrow was extremely shy looking for seed to feed its fledgeling that it had. I actually saw it feeding its fledgling once. This one and its mate would bop in for a few seconds then leave. Sometimes it or its mate would get some water and quickly leave. Also, as an aside, during this first sequence of shots a Texas Indigo snake made an appearance which surprised me so that I never got a good clear shot of it. x( This was all in the early morning before 10:00am.









It wouldn't be until late in the evening almost around 7:00pm probably before I got a few more good chances with the olive sparrows. This was at another blind deeper into the refuge.







And finally two nice perches...





Enjoy.

[Forkboy]

1. Cool. I've never seen an Olive Sparrow before,

It's actually almost an ugly little bugger. Which makes me like it even more. :)

Thanks for the pics. Excellent, as always. :thumbsup:

[Maestro]

6. Thanks Forkboy

Much appreciated.

[TZ]

2. Great as usual!

I love seeing a non-soot covered house sparrow..Living in the burbs all of them seem so dirty!

Those olive sparrow shots are great! And so detailed..I love the one with its beak open.
I'll probably not see an olive sparrow around here, but if I go to Texas, I think I could easily identify one thanks to your up close and nicely detailed pictures!!:applause:

[Maestro]

5. Thanks Turtlensue

Just make sure you go to the LRGV or you will not see the olive sparrow. :)

[Blue-Jay]

3. A five ounce bird could not carry a one pound coconut.

[Maestro]

4. Okay

:shrug: :)

[Blue-Jay]

7. An African swallow maybe, but not a European swallow. That's my point.

[Maestro]

8. I have no idea what you are talking about.

Where did I reference the house sparrow carrying anything?

[Blue-Jay]

9. But then of course African swallows are non-migratory.

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. Look. In order to maintain air-speed velocity, a sparrow's gotta beat its wings 43 times a second.

[suninvited]

11. Very nice photos.

Let me ask you, since you photograph birds in Texas. Have you ever photographed painted buntings?

We have a pair on the farm, which I can watch with binoculars, but they are so shy when I try to get close at all they disappear. I only have a Canon S5 IS, so I cant do anything about how close I have to get without springing for a whole new camera with lenses.

[Maestro]

12. Yes, I have, but I really don't have any shots with which

I am satisfied. As you say, they are so horribly shy and also prefer the dense brush. Here is one from the end of April that I caught feeding on some recently cut grass. It must have been hungry because it allowed to approach in my vehicle and take pics from there. If I tried to get out, it would fly away very quickly. I am going to have to use a blind to get one of these on a nice perch like the ones above.



Thanks for looking into the thread and for the comments.

[suninvited]

14. You might not be satisfied with it, but

if I took that photo I would be thrilled out of my head !!!

Just beautiful. You might have posted it before, but I must have missed it.

They are such beautiful birds!

[Maestro]

16. I'm satisfied with it. It is much better than the shots I got last year.

However, I would like to find one in a more natural environment and not with a curb in the background. ;)

[Maestro]

23. Check out post #22

Oh the irony. :rofl:

[Duncan Grant]

13. Thanks for posting!

Amazing little creatures, aren't they? The perching photos make it clear how these little sparrows got their name. Are we seeing a male in the perching photos and a female in the first 2 or 3 photos?

Thanks again for sharing. I'll look forward to the next installment. :thumbsup:

[Maestro]

20. I think you are probably correct.

The olive sparrow in the morning was more drab and probably the female, but you can still see the faint olive plumage on her if it is a female. The one in the afternoon was much more vibrant.

Thanks for looking and I will post more when they are ready.

[stuntcat]

15. very nice perches!

These are so beautiful, thank you for posting them! I love my sparrows.

[Maestro]

28. Thanks Stuntcat, but they aren't all sparrows

and according to XemaSab I need to turn in my birder card now. ;) Check out post 22. :rofl:

[stuntcat]

32. hahah the female painted bunting then

She's very important looking there!

Whichever birds are sparrows they're the ones I love most usually :loveya: they're so small and they all look alike, they need to be someone's favorites.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

17. Now on to the Ivory Billed Woodpecker!

a.k.a. the "Lord God!" bird.

Actually, if you live in Texas, you aren't too far from where they supposed spotted a couple of Ivory Bills a few years back. My inner birding nerd was so happy when I heard that.

[Maestro]

19. Oh Yeah! I am about 3 1/2 hours away from this

Holy Grail bird. The rational person in me tells me that what was probably seen was a pileated woodpecker but my emotional side wants to believe. I was down in the Houston area recently just south of the Sam Houston National Forest and as I was looking in the pines, I would lying if I told you I wasn't hoping to find one.

[XemaSab]

18. Olive Sparrows are super cool!

These are beautiful pictures! Congratulations on a great trip to Texas!

[Maestro]

21. Thanks XemaSab. I have more to share and check out

my major goof in the post below.

[XemaSab]

26. I like sparrows.

I still need Baird's, Henslow's, Eurasian Tree, Smith's Longspur, and McKay's Bunting. :P

[Maestro]

33. I have a birding acquaintance that just got back from Alaska

where among the snowy owls, hawk owls and eiders he also got a lifer Smith's Longspur.

[Maestro]

22. Major goof

If you look at the first photographs before the ones on the perch and the lily pads, it is clearly a different bird from the last ones. The first ones are in fact the olive sparrow. The last ones are actually a female painted bunting. The olive coloring is deeper and the beak is completely different than that of a sparrow. It is clearly a bunting beak. Oh well. I am certainly happy with a female painted bunting too. :)

[XemaSab]

24. Time to hand in your birder card.

x(

[Maestro]

31. I'm sending it back to American Ornithological Society post haste

I am such a loser! ;)

[Xipe Totec]

25. I remeber those guys

we called them pajaros - the generic word for bird.

every other kind of bird had a special name, but a sparrow was just called by the generic.

Or, to emphasize we meant a sparrow, we said "pajaro comun y corriente" - a common ordinary bird.

[Maestro]

27. I totally understand.

Many sparrows are called LBJs, Little Brown Jobbers. I will be posting two more Mexican/Latin American/South American species in the coming days, the Great Kiskadee and the Groove Billed Ani.

[kimmerspixelated]

29. But What about JACK SPARROW??!!!

Sorry-no pics! And don't think I would if I could!

[kimmerspixelated]

30. I'm afraid this discussion is for the birds!

Sorry! The cornball monster got me!!

[Inchworm]

34. Very cool!

:yourock: