betsy
03-31-2007, 08:38 PM
Eurasian Tree Sparrows (ETSPs for short) in the US are reported to be confined to St. Louis. The males reportedly* have white collars and no white spot above the eye. (*I've never seen one.)
House Sparrrows (HOSPs for short) are ubiquitous and reportedly don't have white collars, but do have white spots above the eye. But male HOSPs do have white collars in Dallas! The ones I see at any rate. And here's a thread in Birder's World that starts with a photo of a HOSP from NJ that has both a white spot and a white collar.
http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4754 (http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4754)
It's beginning to look as though an ETSP gene has been propagating itself through the HOSP population. Hasn't anybody been noticing? Where do HOSPs still not have white collars, I wonder?
House Sparrrows (HOSPs for short) are ubiquitous and reportedly don't have white collars, but do have white spots above the eye. But male HOSPs do have white collars in Dallas! The ones I see at any rate. And here's a thread in Birder's World that starts with a photo of a HOSP from NJ that has both a white spot and a white collar.
http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4754 (http://www.birdersworld.com/brd/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4754)
It's beginning to look as though an ETSP gene has been propagating itself through the HOSP population. Hasn't anybody been noticing? Where do HOSPs still not have white collars, I wonder?