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      Every bird watcher and nature observer has his or her "lists." Here are mine for Birds and Insects (left sidebar), and Travel, Mammals, Plants, Reptiles, Fish and Crustaceans (right sidebar), complete with pull down menus.

      BIRDS

    Categorized by genus/species, placed chronologically by common name

      American Coot

      American Crow

      American Flamingo*

      American Goldfinch

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      American Tree Sparrow

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      Hairy Woodpecker

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      Orange-Crowned Warbler

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      Ring-Necked Duck

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      Scarlet Tanager

      Smooth-Billed Ani*

      Solitary Sandpiper

      Song Sparrow

      Spotted Sandpiper

      Swamp Sparrow

      Tricolored Heron*

      Tufted Duck*

      Tufted Titmouse

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      Turkey Vulture

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      Wilson's Warbler

      Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

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      INSECTS, ARACHNIDS, MYRIAPODS & GASTROPODS

    Categorized by family, placed chronologically by common name

      Ants (Formicidae)

      Bee Flies (Bombyliidae)

      Blow Flies (Calliphoridae)

      Brown Lacewings (Hemerobiidae)

      Bumble Bees, etc. (Apidae)

      Carrion Beetles (Silphidae)

      Cellar Spiders (Pholcidae)

      Centipedes, House (Scutigeridae)

      Cicadas (Cicadidae)

      Common Sawflies (Tenthredinidae)

      Crane Flies (Tipulidae)

      Emeralds (Corduliidae)

      Fireflies (Lampyridae)

      Flower Flies - See Syrphid Flies

      Funnel-Web Spiders (Agelenidae)

      Honey Bees - See Bumble Bees, etc.

      Hornets - See Yellowjackets, etc.

      Hover Flies - See Syrphid Flies

      Ichneumon Wasps (Ichneumonidae)

      Jumping Spiders (Salticidae)

      Katydids (Tettigoniidae)

      Ladybird Beetles (Coccinellidae)

      Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae)

      Leaffooted Bugs (Coreidae)

      Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae)

      Lightning Bugs - See Fireflies

      Longhorned Beetles (Cerambycidae)

      Mantid Flies (Mantispidae)

      Mantids (Mantidae)

      Minettia Flies (Minettia)

      Narrow-Winged Damselflies (Coenagrionidae)

      New York Weevils (Ithyceridae)

      Orb-Weavers (Araneidae)

      Paper Wasps - See Yellowjackets, etc.

      Picture-Winged Flies (Ulidiidae)

      Plant Bugs (Miridae)

      Robber Flies (Asilidae)

      Scarab Beetles (Scarabaeidae)

      Scentless Plant Bugs (Rhopalidae)

      Short-horned Grasshoppers (Acrididae)

      Signal Flies (Platystomatidae)

      Soldier Beetles (Cantharidae)

      Soldier Flies (Stratiomyidae)

      Spittlebugs (Cercopidae)

      Stink Bugs (Pentatomidae)

      Swallowtails (Papilionidae)

      Sweat Bees (Halictidae)

      Syrphid Flies (Syrphidae)

      Tiger Moths (Arctiidae)

      Tiphiid Wasps (Tiphiidae)

      Yellowjackets, etc. (Vespidae)


    Friday, November 16, 2007

    swamp sparrow 1 (3)

    Song Sparrow

    This week’s theme is “I Love _____.” Well, when I started birding, I disliked sparrows because they seemed plain and all looked the same. Now, I truly appreciate the small differences between the sparrows and I can say that I “love” them.

    From top to bottom, Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana), Lincoln’s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii) [photo missing], and Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia). I always had a tough time distinguishing these related sparrows (still do), but this post should help. They all have a similar head (at least to the amateur, like me), but the Swamp Sparrow has the plain chest, Lincoln’s Sparrow has the chest stripes but no spot, and the Song Sparrow has the chest stripes and the central chest spot. Another way to distinguish the Lincoln’s and Song Sparrow is that Lincoln’s upper breast is buff colored, while the Song Sparrow’s upper breast is white.

    Related posts:

    1. Swamp Sparrow
    2. Swamp Sparrow in Brush
    3. Photo Hunt – Creative – Red-Bellied Woodpecker
    4. White-Crowned Sparrow and Song Sparrow
    5. Swamp Sparrow Buzzed

    Posted by: Moe in: Birds,Iowa,Photo Hunt at 6:00 pm

    Permalink | trackback (right click and save) | 
    20 Responses to “Photo Hunt – I Love ____ – Melospiza Sparrows”
    1. 1
      Yen Says:

      WOW!!! Great shots here! Happy Weekend:)

    2. 2
      Crazy Working Mom Says:

      The winged creatures are beautiful. :)
      Great shots. :)

      Happy Hunting.

    3. 3
      And Miles To Go.... Says:

      what a beautiful take on this weeks theme!! Very unique!

    4. 4
      mon@rch Says:

      amazing sparrow pictures! Was going through my RSS feeds that have not posting anything in a while and found you have moved! I have made the updates and now I can enjoy your photos again!

    5. 5
      carver Says:

      Those are beautiful shots. I hope you have a pleasant
      weekend.

    6. 6
      Heather Says:

      Lovely shots. I love sparrows. They are so simple yet so precious.

    7. 7
      Natalie Says:

      Beautiful shots! My photo hunt is up too! :)

    8. 8
      liza Says:

      Great choice. I can relate to you. I’m breeding African Love birds and Finches. Have a happy weekend!

    9. 9
      BlurMommy Says:

      Wow, beautiful photos! Happy weekend!

    10. 10
      SnoopyTheGoon Says:

      As always, grateful to you for sharing. Lovely, professional and beautiful.

    11. 11
      YTSL Says:

      Lovely pictures, one and all! :)

    12. 12
      Chen Says:

      Great shots. I can’t differentiate nor distinguish those sparrows (i mean which is which) ;)

    13. 13
      Andrée Says:

      That happened to me, too! I went to the Audobon spring count and would begin to yawn when they talked sparrows (I was only along for photos and ignored sparrows). But then I got a couple of sparrow shots and realized I knew nothing and there were so many. There are different seasons and climates and habitats for them. Now I am becoming obsessed with them. I got a ton of sparrow shots in New Haven in October and noticed that different species hang together like they are kin. I have starred this post for future identifications.

    14. 14
      threecollie Says:

      Stumbled on your blog via a link exchange, BlogMad I think, and I just love it. Wonderful bird photos…the sparrow comparison is great. I bookmarked you for future visits. Thanks

    15. 15
      Mar Says:

      What a lovely choice for the theme, beautiful pictures as always…
      :)

    16. 16
      Moe Says:

      Thank you for all the comments!

    17. 17
      Iowa Gardening Woman Says:

      Great photos as always, there are some interesting native sparrows out there which most people are not even aware of, all they know are the English and house sparrows.

      I must join the photo hunt one of these days, it looks like so much fun!

    18. 18
      Nick Says:

      I hate to say it, but your “Lincoln’s Sparrow” is actually a Song Sparrow.

      Cheers,
      Nick

    19. 19
      Moe Says:

      Hmmm, the photo I had up… you may be right. So I changed it to more obviously a Lincoln’s Sparrow. Thanks!

    20. 20
      farmingfriends Says:

      I like the detail on this birds plumage. sara from farmingfriends

    Leave a Reply


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