Golden-crowned Sparrow

Some Summer and Fall Sparrow Issues

Jon Dunn & Kimball Garrett

Tue, Jul 19, 2022 7:00 PM

Although sparrow (Passerellidae) diversity and abundance are highest in southern California in late fall and winter, there is still a good variety of breeding species (many of which show geographic variation). And by late summer and early fall some species are dispersing away from breeding sites and the earliest fall migrants are arriving.

Jon and Kimball will tackle identification issues posed by confusing juvenile sparrows — starting with the juvenile Song Sparrows that account for essentially all mid-summer lowland reports of Lincoln’s Sparrows.

Then they will address the different timing of “post-juvenile” (preformative) molt in sparrows, in part using Spizella as an example of a group with species differing in molt timing.

For geographically variable species they will explore subspecies issues and distributional boundaries and in some cases species-level taxonomy issues.

Finally, if time permits, they will dive into other identification and status/distribution issues posed by our sparrows.

Wow! You won’t want to miss this performance, it’s bound to be a tour de force!

The livestream can be found at our YouTube channel.