Date: 5/5/25 1:49 pm From: John Edmondson <johnhedmondson...> Subject: [Arlington Birds] savannah sparrow vs white-throated sparrow
Hi all,
Hope this is of interest and not too basic. A couple of weeks ago when I led a walk at Arlington Reservoir and Lexington Community gardens, we saw a Savannah Sparrow. Someone asked how to tell them from a White-throated Sparrow since both have yellow above and in front of the eye as field marks. I thought I'd send out this email in an attempt to make that easier.
Notice that on the Savannah, the yellow (which is not always this apparent) is kind of a wash that fades gently as it goes towards the back of the head. Also, Savannah Sparrows are striped on the flanks and chest like Song Sparrows but the stripes are crisper (people say drawn with a pencil instead of with a crayon). But, forget the Song Sparrow. The situation in this case is the yellow is visible, so how to rule out White-throated Sparrow
White-throated Sparrows have two types, white-striped and tan-striped. this one is white-striped. Notice that the yellow stops right at the eye, doesn't fade, instead has a clean edge. Below that is a tan-striped. The yellow isn't as clear but still there and still stops kind of abruptly right near the eye. Another thing is that the bill is smaller relative to the head versus on the Savannah. Also the White-throated has a bulkier look than the Savannah.
