LeConte's sparrow Ammodramus leconteii

Identification Tips:

• Length: 4.25 inches
• Large, conical bill
• Large, flat head
• Short tail
• Orange face surrounding gray cheek
• Black eye line becoming T-shaped behind eye
• Black crown with narrow, whitish crown stripe
• Gray nape with purple streaks
• Buffy breast and sides
• Sides finely streaked
• White belly and undertail coverts
• Brown wing coverts
• Dark and light streaking on back
• Sexes similar
• Juvenile plumage (Summer, sometimes Fall) similar to adult but duller without nape patch and with buff central crown stripe
• Found in marshes and fields

Similar species:

The LeConte's Sparrow is similar to the Sharp-tailed Sparrows but has a white central crown stripe and purplish streaks on the nape.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.