I wrote the following earlier today to Phil Jeffrey's but since it's merged into a discussion, here are my thoughts:
1) As a note, we're technically not talking about subspecies here. Fox sparrow has over 10 subspecies of which many are very similar. We're trying to group this bird into the more general category of 'race.' 2) It's definitely not megarhynca (thick-billed), I've spent years living with those birds and never seen one of that group this dark. Plus, there's the whole lack of a mega-sized rhyncus. 3) Iliaca is out (clearly) due to coloring 4) Leaving shistacea (slate-colored) and unalaschcensis (sooty). This all should be obvious to most birders. In response to Jacob Drucker, the coloration (gray-ish head and back, reddish wings and tail) would seem to denote slate-colored. However, in my travels throughout the interior west, I've never seen a slate-colored that overall dark. Schistacea birds that I've seen are all daintily streaked on the breast. This CP bird is very darkly and broadly streaked underneath with a very dark face and perhaps most importantly, dark lores. While schistacea birds are more dominantly gray-backed than unalaschcensis, the colors observed in the CP bird are fully within the range (as I'm familiar with it) of unalaschcensis. Moreover, the unalaschcensis (sooty) group is highly variable and in my experience tends toward the most melanistic forms, with dark lores and big, broad, streaky breasts and flanks. Check out photos of melaninistic sooty fox sparrows here: http://10000birds.com/sooty-fox-sparrows-vancouver.htm/ http://www.pbase.com/marvbreece/image/70117295 The 'oddest' thing about the CP bird to me is the bill color. Why isn't the lower mandible yellow? It could be an age thing (1st-year birds maybe don't have the yellow coloring?), and we know that bill color among all birds can be variable and isn't the best field mark. Still, it bothers me a little. So, I'd throw my vote into sooty (unalaschcensis), and if anyone was taking bets never to be collected, I'd put my money in the subspecies *fuliginosa. *Morgan Tingley UC Berkeley / AMNH New York, NY -- NYSbirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/NYSbirdsRULES ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/NYSB.html 3) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/NYSBirds-L Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
