Date: 11/15/25 5:03 pm From: Zane Pickus via groups.io <zanep987...> Subject: [centralvalleybirds] Yolo County SAGEBRUSH SPARROW
Hi all,
This afternoon Julian Johnson and I spent a few hours cruising county roads
in southern Yolo County in search of sparrows, raptors, etc. While driving
along County Road 152 we were shocked and thrilled to find a beautiful
SAGEBRUSH SPARROW. It proceeded to put on a show off and on for the next
two hours for a handful of Yolo County birders who chased it. To our
knowledge, this represents a second county record and the first chaseable
individual. The bird spent most of its time moving around the weedy ditch
on the north side of the road, here:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/1kGjGoXouxa2me2YA?g_st=i&utm_campaign=ac-im
Obviously this species complex presents a difficult identification
challenge when differentiating from “canescens” Bell’s Sparrow, but this
bird seems good for a clear cut Sagebrush with an extremely pale malar,
extensive streaking in the back, and long primary extension. Excellent
photos were obtained by Julian and others and will be posted on eBird
later.
Emmett Iverson notes that this bird, Yolo’s prior record in November 2017,
and his recent bird in Sacramento County all came on the days following
large rainstorms. Perhaps this is coincidence or maybe there is something
to this correlation. Good luck to those who search tomorrow.
