Lark sparrow Chondestes grammacus

Identification Tips:

• Length: 5.75 inches
• Conical bill
• Distictive head pattern: chestnut crown and cheeks, white supercilium, crown stripe, eye ring and throat, black eyeline and malar streak
• Gray-brown upperparts with dark streaks on back
• Whitish breast with black spot
• Long tail with white outer corners
• Sexes similar
• Juvenile plumage (Summer) similar to adult but duller with streaked breast

Similar species:

Adults are very distinctive with their bold face patterns and black spot on the breast. Juveniles have enough of the face pattern of the adults to be identifiable.

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