[ID] Is this a F. House Sparrow... or not?

[Jason Green]

Hi,

Just a quick ID please!

I have been photographing some house sparrows recently and, among those I was looking back on on the PC, I came across this one. There arev no obvious HS trademarks visible and it seems TOO pale in general colouration. It would appear to have a pale eyestripe, though this could nothing.

Is it just a badly caught female house sparrow... or something else?



You Decide

Take care,

Jason

[big bill]

Hello Jason just had a look threuogh the books it looks to me like a female House Sparrow,pity you could not see more of the side and the way the sun hits it throws you a bit but still think House Sparrow going by the band thru the eye

[Steven Munday]

Hi Jason, the relatively long forked tail with what appears to be a white outer tail feather and slim build would suggest to me that it's a Chaffinch (female).

[John]

You beat me to it Steven. Yep I would go with female Chaffinch as well.

John

Originally Posted by Steven Munday

Hi Jason, the relatively long forked tail with what appears to be a white outer tail feather and slim build would suggest to me that it's a Chaffinch (female).

[Bub-les]

and that's what I was thinking as well.
Barbara

[ChrisJB]

With that eye-stripe, female house sparrow.

Regards, Chris

[Steven Munday]

Apart from that errant white tail feather I can’t positively exclude House Sparrow, but I would expect a heavier build and bull-necked appearance. Also, female House Sparrows usually show a uniform colour to their underparts. It’s a shame the bill is obscured by insects.

With reference to the pale eye stripe, female chaffinches can also show a similar effect - see link below.

female Chaffinch

There's not much more that can be deduced from the photo. I'll leave it up to you, Jason, to form you own conclusion.

Steven.