{"id":48030,"date":"2017-08-07T04:55:55","date_gmt":"2017-08-07T10:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=48030"},"modified":"2025-09-03T04:28:46","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T09:28:46","slug":"immature-song-sparrow-sporting-a-messy-look","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/08\/07\/immature-song-sparrow-sporting-a-messy-look\/","title":{"rendered":"Immature Song Sparrow Sporting a Messy Look"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MessyMessy looking immature Song Sparrow – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Birds aren’t always neat looking, feathers wear, birds molt and young birds transitioning from their juvenal plumage into adult plumage can look quite disheveled or messy.<\/p>\n

I spotted a preening sparrow high up on a bush last week while up in the Wasatch Mountains and when I was able to put my lens on it I could see how messy its plumage was.<\/p>\n

It was messy enough that I didn’t feel 100% confident of my identification of immature Song Sparrow as the species and later asked a friend, fellow birder, photographer and bird guide, Mark Stackhouse<\/span><\/a>, what he thought it was and he agreed with my ID.<\/p>\n

His initial response of “It’s sure a ratty-looking beast” still cracks me up. It is<\/em> ratty looking.<\/p>\n

Even though the immature Song Sparrow that I photographed had such messy plumage I am okay with that.<\/p>\n

I like sharing what I see in the field and sometimes that means they aren’t just pretty pictures. At times it means sharing a view of a bird that isn’t often seen unless the person is an ornithologist, bird biologist, researcher, birder, or bird photographer.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Song Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Birds aren’t always neat looking, feathers wear, birds molt and young birds transitioning from their juvenal plumage into adult plumage can look quite disheveled or messy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":154040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,4594,204,26],"tags":[3940,6023,4067,4202,6022,2312,4104,4019,4023,855,4195,4193],"class_list":["post-48030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-morgan-county","category-song-sparrows","category-utah","tag-canyon","tag-disheveled","tag-immature","tag-melospiza-melodia","tag-messy","tag-molt","tag-perched","tag-preening-2","tag-song-sparrow","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/song-sparrow-juvenile-mia-mcpherson-9236.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cuG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":72661,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/08\/13\/messy-molting-song-sparrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":48030,"position":0},"title":"Messy, Molting Song Sparrow","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 13, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This Song Sparrow will replace its damaged feathers quickly and will look like it normally does once again. Until then, I still think it is a beautiful, albeit somewhat ruffled, bird.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Song Sparrow in molt, Wasatch Mountains, East Canyon, Morgan County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/song-sparrow-messy-on-ground-mia-mcpherson-0851.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/song-sparrow-messy-on-ground-mia-mcpherson-0851.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/song-sparrow-messy-on-ground-mia-mcpherson-0851.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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ago I photographed a molting Song Sparrow as it perched on an old wooden post high in a mountain canyon in beautiful morning light.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Molting and messy Song Sparrow adult, Wasatch Mountains, Summit County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/song-sparrow-adult-molting-mia-mcpherson-4420.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/song-sparrow-adult-molting-mia-mcpherson-4420.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/song-sparrow-adult-molting-mia-mcpherson-4420.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Molting In Oklahoma","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I had this immature White-crowned Sparrow in my viewfinder at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge long enough to realize she or he was molting.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow molting in Oklahoma, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-3010.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-3010.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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