Nature Miramichi:

Hi Nelson,

These two White-crowned Sparrows have been with us for 3 or 4 days. Today we looked at them a little more closely. The subject of the second photo shows a few differences from the subject in the first, it perhaps being the normal eastern White-crowned Sparrow.

The most obvious difference is the very clear white throat, much like the White-throated Sparrow, also there is no black at the base of the beak. The black line through the eye is almost non-existent. The hind quarters seem more tan in colour.

Deana has done some hurried research and suggests that the second White-crowned Sparrow is an “Intergrade”, the product of two sub-species of the same species, rather than a hybrid, the product of two different species.

I must work harder at “seeing” rather than just “looking”!!! 😊

Peter