Savannah Sparrow at the Pond (or maybe a female Red-Winged Blackbird?), in South Ohio
Savannah Sparrow at the Pond (or maybe a female Red-Winged Blackbird?), in South Ohio
Taken with my mediocre phone camera through the lens of my adequate binoculars.
Good shot! It looks like a female Red-Winged Blackbird, but I’m not as familiar with that regions birds. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-winged_Blackbird/photo-gallery/306393451
I don’t know, the legs might be in shade.
Hmm. I think you might be right. I thought the yellow face was enough to distinguish it as a Savannah Sparrow, but the dark legs might indicate it's a blackbird. I had no idea the females looked like that. And that area is basically swarming with blackbirds, so it's a lot more likely.
The females are so tricky and look just like sparrows, it really throws me off too. I can’t think of another instance where a common bird has such huge sexual dimorphism.
It’s an interesting problem in bird names. Many species have eponymous names, where they’re named after somebody who put them into a book. With those you’re stuck with situations like “what does a Wilson’s Warbler look like?”, where it would be so much easier if they were called a “black-capped yellow warbler. But then you have the same problem as the Red-winged blackbird where the name really throws you off for the female, and it might be better if they were called something like “marsh blackbird”.
Nice! 👋🏼 from Columbus