faerye ,
@faerye@pie.gd avatar

Looking at last Friday’s bird photos, and I’d love an external opinion. I managed to take a few photos of these elusive little ~sparrow-sized jobbers we kept seeing in the underbrush of a scrubwood margin on Sauvie Island. The only good match I’ve found for them is female or immature Lazuli Buntings, which would be a lifer for me. Anyone with more experience have an opinion?

(Sauvie Island, Columbia River, NW , May 24)

The right bird has stuck its head curiously out beyond its intrepidly grasped plant stem, while the left bird is more fully hidden. The head is a dusty taupe, with a slight white stripe through the upper part of the dark eye, and a medium-shade line continuing from the eye toward the back of the head. The beak is grey. Under the beak, two fairly distinct white jowl-stripes. Of such doctor’s-office drab markings are potential lifer identifications made!

Two small birds clinging to the green stalks of weeds or grasses. Their body plan is similar to a sparrow’s, but their beaks have more of a finch’s broadness at the base. Their legs seem to be gray, and all their plumage has a soft, pastel, 90s designer-color feel. The belly is white, which gives way to pale beige nearer the wing. The upper breast is an anemic orange. The left one is showing the underside of its tail: dingy shite coverts and a medium gray tail. The folded wings are also medium gray, with two white wingbars, fairly distinct.
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