Posted by John Boyd on July 13, 2003 at 20:50:38:
In Reply to: Re: Palm Beach Sod Farms posted by C.J. on July 13, 2003 at 15:15:29:
Passer montanus is the Eurasian Tree Sparrow! I presume you meant Passer domesticus italiae. I looked up in both the Collins Bird Guide and the Handbook of Bird ID for Europe & West. Palearctic. The Italian Sparrow had previously been considered a subspecies of the House Sparrow, but is now thought to be more closely related to the Spanish Sparrow (P. hispaniolensis) and is regarded as a hybrid between House and Spanish Sparrows.
A Chickadee at Corkscrew? I don't know that there are any records from there. The only nearby report I could find was almost 90 years ago--in Feb. 1914, 10 miles E. of Immokalee
: Not far from where you were on Government Road just south of the enterance at a gas station is a nice surprise. When I was in the area last month I stopped for a lemonade at a gas station along 846 on the way to Corkscrew and Immokalee, I noticed some people birding in a small fiels just south of where I was. I walked up to them and they said they were on some Eurasian Tree Sparrows. I set my eyes on 9 small sparrows dust bathing. With all my guides the only possible bird could be the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, but the birds I saw lacked the obvious black cheek "dot". Fortunatly after a while I had an explanation for them. Because of a recent trip to Italy, I was able to i.d. them as the Italian Race of House Sparrow,
: (Passer Montanus). Unlike the House Sparrows here we know and dislike, these ones were chunkier and were not tame at all, staying atleast 100 feet from us, fleeing whenever approached. Also they did not do the regular House Sparrow thing and did not hang around human habitation, and were more inclined on staying in the weedy field. The only obvious differance between the two House Sparrow races is the male Italian race has a chestnut-colored cap as opposed to a gray cap. I liked the Italian ones more than the nominate race birds. I saw 9+ plus of this race, and also saw some nominate race sparrows foraging for food near a dumpster not far from there. Then it was off to Corkscrew for Carolina Chickadee, Titmice, Parula, Gnat-catcher and Brown-headed Nuthatch. I got all of 'em. I also saw a Sun Conure near Immokalee.