Plain-backed Sparrow
Passer flaveolus
Male resembles a faded blend between House and Russet Sparrows, with a black throat, gray crown and nape, and dusty reddish brows and back. Female has a thin pale brow and is overall very plain and unmarked. House Sparrow females have a broader, more prominent brow stripe and are overall more strongly-marked. Both sexes of Russet Sparrow are likewise much more contrastingly patterned. Gives typical sparrow chirps and chirrups. Inhabits edge habitats including farmlands and gardens. Primarily a lowland species, but gets up into the foothills where it overlaps with Russet Sparrow.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Passer flaveolus
- Authority
- Blyth, 1845
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Passeridae
- Genus
- Passer
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Bolle's Pigeon
Columba bollii
Endemic to the Canary Islands, where it is found in laurel and tree heath forests on mountain slopes. Shy and difficult to observe unless flushed. Plumage is largely gray with a purple-pink breast band. Smaller than the co-occurring Laurel Pigeon from which it differs in having contrasting wings with dark flight feathers, a dark tail with a gray band and yellowish eyes. Gives deep, hoarse coos, quite different from those of Laurel Pigeon.
Reed Bunting
Emberiza schoeniclus
Chunky bunting, found in wetlands with reed beds and scattered bushes; also in farmland and other open areas with bushes and hedges. In the spring and summer, male gives his halting song from a prominent perch, showing off distinctive black-and-white head pattern (pattern muted in winter). Female streaky overall, much like other buntings, with boldly striped head. Compare with very similar Pallas’s Bunting, note rusty shoulders, thicker and more conical bill, dark brownish rump. White outer tail feathers often show in flight. Calls include a quiet, mellow “tsew” and buzzy notes.
Blackish Pewee
Contopus nigrescens
Small, uniformly dark pewee, elusive in the canopy of humid forests, often at higher elevations in Andean foothills but also apparently patchily in Amazonian lowlands. Usually found perching upright at the top of tall trees. Call is a high “peep” like Tropical Pewee, sometimes double-noted.
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