Vermont Rare Bird Reports 2023

5 ladies were also present but only one of them-Jenn Megyesi was able to also see it and took several great photos of this bird.

46°, S wind @ 3 mph

Zeiss Victory SF 10x42

This was my 1st Le Conte's Sparrow but I have seen several Nelson's Sparrows.

I first saw it on the edge of a corn field after it had popped up from the ground which was covered with Shaggy Soldier (a flowering plant). The corn field was about 20' west of a large garden. There was a smaller garden north of the large one and I also saw it in there, twice. The edge of the White River was about 20' north of the smaller garden. There was open grassland on the south side of the cornfield.

I assumed that it was feeding on the ground before it popped up initially, though I did not see it feeding. I saw it fly 3 different times and each time it flew quickly and just high enough to clear the tops of plants and then just as quickly disappeared after flying downward. It was difficult to find again but when found, it would stay put near the top of a plant for many seconds.

I did not hear any vocalizations during my observation.

I first saw a small bird pop up from the ground and then it flew onto a plant on the edge of a cornfield. I looked at it through my bins just the same as all of the other sparrows that I had seen and much to my surprise, it was actually a Le Conte's Sparrow!! I ID'd it immediately because it looked so much like a Nelson's Sparrow except that this bird showed more yellowish features, instead of orange ones.

I had seen many Song & Savannah Sparrows while there and this bird was noticeably smaller. It also appeared a bit more round shaped and sort of stocky looking than the other larger sparrows did.

The crown showed 2 dark lateral crown-stripes separated by a light colored median crown-stripe. The cheeks were gray and the lores were a bit lighter colored than them. The eye was dark with a complete but muted whitish orbital ring. The supercilium, malar & mustache were yellowish/orangish colored. The throat was not quite white but lighter than the yellowish breast. The nape appeared gray with purplish colored markings.

The feet and legs were sort of fleshy/pinkish looking. The bill was palish and small.

The upper back was darkish with some white edging on some of the feathers.

I was not able to see the lower back or rump.

Even though I saw this bird fly 3 times I could not describe anything about its' wings.

The breast was yellowish with little to no streaks. The sides & flanks were yellowish with dark fine streaks. The belly appeared light gray to whitish. I did not see the undertail coverts.

I did not get a good look at the tail.

The bird most likely to compare to this species would be Nelson's Sparrow. The habitat did not seem wet enough for a Nelson's. The Le Conte's shows a grayish nape with purplish markings, a Nelson's shows an all gray nape. The Le Conte's shows a light colored median crown-stripe, a Nelson's a gray one. Also, the Nelson's that I've seen appeared more brighter/orange colored, this Le Conte's appeared more toward the yellowish coloration than orangish.

This was an adult bird due to its' whitish median crown-stripe, gray purplish nape and overall more brightly colored than a juvenile bird.