What does such a bird look like?
photos by Klemens Gasser, Brooklyn, NY
Shai Mitra saw these images and wrote: "Based on appearance alone, I wouldn't have taken this bird for pure Saltmarsh. The supercilium shows only a hint of black flecking (characteristic of Saltmarsh) and rather more of a grayish wash (characteristic of Acadian Nelson's), the back is rather washed out and grayish, and the ventral streaks are less prominent than I think of as typical for Saltmarsh." (http://digest.sialia.com/?rm=message;id=1100850)
Chris Elphick, who is part of the project studying these birds, wrote to me yesterday and said that blood from this sparrow was tested and molecular data suggest it is 93% Saltmarsh.
"So, this is one version of what a 93% (male) saltmarsh sparrow looks like during fall migration…" Or, what does 7% Nelson's Sparrow do for your looks?
Louis Bevier
Fairfield
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