Harris’s Sparrow. Aren’t they beauties? These are large sparrows, 17 to 20 cm (6.7 to 7.9 in). This is probably a non-breeding adult, but my sparrow identification skills suck. I’m always glad to see them, click for full size.
© C. Ford.
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According to my Sibley Field Guide that is a breeding Harris’s Sparrow. Non-breeding seems to have a brown head, without the small black patch to the rear of the head.
Interesting looking sparrow, quite long and slender and woodgrain pattern wings like other sparrows. The colouration of the head looks as if they’ve dipped their head in a chimney, but managed to keep the sides of the head mostly soot-free.
Bruce:
Ah, okay. I was going by the notes in Peterson’s that white scalloping in the black hood signifies a non-breeding adult, but as I said, my sparrow identifications skills suck.
Also, I’ve been seeing increased leucism in birds here, across the board, so that can make things a bit more difficult, too.