Last week, while I was up in the Wasatch Mountain Range, I took several immature Song Sparrow photos in different areas of the mountains. It was great to see that these sparrows had a successful nesting season in the high country.
Creekside immature Song Sparrow in summer – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
In Summit County, I found this young Song Sparrow perched near an alpine creek on a willow branch that had been gnawed on by a beaver several years ago. The light was beautiful and the immature sparrow seemed interested in my presence, even though I was using my Jeep as a mobile blind.
Immature Song Sparrow with ripe serviceberries – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
While I was in Morgan County, I found birds feasting on the ripe serviceberry berries including this immature Song Sparrow.
I have to admit that the serviceberries looked juicy and that I was tempted to pick a few to eat. I resisted those urges though. Some of the birds need these berries to fuel up for migration, some need them to survive.
Me? I may have wanted to taste them but I don’t need them like the birds do.
Creekside immature Song Sparrow in summer with inset – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1250, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
You might be wondering how I knew that both of these Song Sparrows are immature. I observed the fleshy gape in both of these young birds. Additionally, there are some clues in their plumage, but the fleshy gape serves as the easiest indicator that these are hatch year birds.
Immature Song Sparrow with ripe serviceberries and inset – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
This immature Song Sparrow photo shows the yellow, fleshy gape a little more clearly than the first image. Many other birds, but not all, have the fleshy gape I’ve shown in these photos with the insets and that can be helpful for identifying hatch year birds.
A story that I will leave for another time is how I identified these young birds as Song Sparrows.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Song Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species.
Wonderful pics highlighted by your interesting and informative commentary. Great stuff. Thanks Mia.
The sparrow youngsters look delightfully rumpled! So glad there’s a bumper crop of Serviceberries this year. (I would also be tempted to taste 1 or 2 berries, as I’ve never tried them.)
Beautiful shots. And poignant for me because our house sparrows (introduced) are in serious decline. We used to see literally dozens of them, and just this week we were delighted to see two.
Bullock’s Oriole is new to me and very beautiful.-Jeri S.