HomeBack The Howland Picture Pages: Savannah Sparrow

Page by Royce
Last update: $Date: 2004/01/28 04:55:41 $ (UTC)

The Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) is a new world Sparrow, one of the most ubiquitous summer Sparrows in our part of Alberta. In fact, Deb says of its song, "That's the sound of summer." The Savannah Sparrow is present through-out the prairies and perches on any handy branch, twig, reed, or fence post. So getting a good view or photograph is not too challenging.

Resources where you can find out more:

Checking out the interloper...

One Sunday afternoon, August 10, 2003, we were visiting family in the area of Ardrossan, Alberta. I was tracking some House Wrens through the brush when this Savannah Sparrow plopped onto a tree branch right in front of me, with excellent lighting and a photogenic pose. I obligingly snapped a few frames and then continued my pursuit of the more elusive Wrens.

EXIF 2.2 photo info:

  • 320 x 526 true color
  • Exposure time: 1/177.40
  • F-stop: 6.6
  • ISO speed: 100
  • Focal length: 71.2000 (with 1.5X teleconverter)
  • Exposure mode: Auto
  • White balance: Auto
  • Exposure bias: 0.0000
  • Metering mode: Spot
  • Exposure program: Aperture priority
  • Gain control: None
  • Contrast: Normal
  • Saturation: High
  • Sharpness: Hard
  • Camera make: NIKON
  • Camera model: E5700

"How about take-out tonight?"

Earlier that same day we had made a brief trip out to Beaverhill Lake. We didn't see much, and I photographed even less, including only a House Sparrow and this bird which -- after a bit of head-scratching -- I decided is a Savannah Sparrow. As I noted on the House Sparrow page, I can't always identify what I'm photographing with the digiscoping setup at the time, especially with tricky subjects like LBJ's (little brown jobbies).

The heavy spot on the central breast feathers is more like what would occur with a Song Sparrow but other distinguishing features of this bird match Savannah. These include the white (rather than grey) supercilium, and short, notched (rather than longer, rounded) tail feathers which are more visible in other photos I haven't included here. I'm open to comments (royce@3ge.com).

This shot was taken with a digiscoping setup at a distance of around 10 meters.

EXIF 2.2 photo info:

  • 320 x 295 true color
  • Exposure time: 1/141.60
  • F-stop: 6.6
  • ISO speed: 100
  • Focal length: 17.8000 (plus Pentax PF-80EDA scope & William Optics DCL-28 eyepiece)
  • Exposure mode: Auto
  • White balance: Auto
  • Exposure bias: 0.0000
  • Metering mode: Pattern
  • Exposure program: Aperture priority
  • Gain control: None
  • Contrast: Normal
  • Saturation: High
  • Sharpness: Hard
  • Camera make: NIKON
  • Camera model: E4500

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