Readers’ wildlife photos

November 3, 2015 • 7:30 am

Today we have a Sparrow Parade from Mike McDowell from Madison, Wisconson, who has previously submitted photos of tiger beetles and orthopterans. Today he proves himself a superb photographer of birds. His note:

Your readers might enjoy the wonderful diversity of North American migratory sparrows. All were photographed this fall in southern Wisconsin.

Lincoln’s Sparrow, Melospiza lincolnii:
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White-throated Sparrow, Zonotrichia albicollis:
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White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys:
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Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca:
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Savannah Sparrow, Passerculus sandwichensis:
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Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana:
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Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina:
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Eastern Towhee, Pipilo erythrophthalmus:
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And not to neglect our friends the plants, we have a palette of leaves from a single tree, photographed by reader Glenn Butler
Here are a few Autumn leaves from a Yoshino cherry tree (Prunus x yeodensis) in Virginia Beach. All were found under the same tree at the same time.
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25 thoughts on “Readers’ wildlife photos”

  4. Love the sparrow portraits, Mike! By coincidence you (or JAC) lead off with my fave, the Lincoln’s. 🙂 Sparrows are at their most lovely in the fall, I think.

    Glenn, what a beautiful composition! I could see that selling well as a print!

  5. That certainly raised my appreciation of sparrows! Thanks for sharing such beautiful and interesting photos.

    1. I note that the last bird, the Towhee, is the only one whose eye has a visible pupil. Can anyone say something about bird eyes & why that might be?

      1. As simple as the fact that many birds have very dark irises, making the contrast difficult to see, I imagine.

        1. But you knew that.

          Just thinking about it…many raptors that come to mind have contrasting irises…I wonder if potential prey birds are more likely to have dark irises so that their eyes don’t stand out the way those with light irises do?

          Also some parrots have contrasting irises, and they’re social spp; some are known to communicate emotions by “pinpointing” their pupils, an effect that would be lost if their irises were dark.

          Perhaps the Towhee’s red irises have to do with sexual selection.(Though female Spotted Towhees also have red irises…)

  7. Nice sparrow photos! I’m saving this post somewhere to help me identify the plethora of sparrows showing up at my bird bath. These photos are better than those in any of the bird identification books I usually use.

  8. So many kinds of sparrows! I think I’ve seen the white throated, savannah & chipping sparrows.

  10. Absolutely beautiful pictures. It does help one to appreciate the beauty of ‘LBJ’ varieties of birds.

  11. Great photos. North Americans are so lucky to have so many different kinds of sparrows. Here we only have the handsome House Sparrow (yer Cockney sparrer) and all too few these days.

  12. Love the leaves, nicely done! Many of those sparrows are passing through my yard these days too, great pics.

  13. The leaves are of course lovely as well. I wonder why senescence of leaves in a tree would reveal more of the yellow pigments in some leaves, and more of the red pigments in others, and both red and yellow in yet others. The pigments are there before the green chlorophyll fades, so why have different proportions of the more stable red and yellow pigments? Any ideas?

    1. The red pigments are newly synthesized as the leaf senesces. Why some plants do this and why it is more common in North America vs Eurasia are open questions I think.

  14. All the photos today are of the highest quality: rich, sharp, colorful and vibrant. Thanks for the tweet treat and I love their tiny feet!

    I see dead leaves all over right now and don’t pay much attention to them. After seeing that lovely leaf photo, I’ll have to start looking more closely at the diversity of colors.

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