Uncommon Sparrow in Green-Wood Cemetery

I spotted this lovely Clay-colored Sparrow yesterday nibbling on grass on the ridge adjacent to the Sylvan Water in Green-Wood Cemetery. Slim and small-billed, this pale colored sparrow is an uncommon visitor around Brooklyn during migration. Migrating primarily through the Great Plains, small numbers occasionally stray into the east coast. I also stumbled on one during one of my Spring migration tours on the opposite side of the Sylvan Water.

Is sparrow ID giving you trouble? Join me for my two part sparrow identification class at Green-Wood Cemetery. Click here for more info or to sign up.

Here's an amazing, straight on close up photo. A big thanks to Sean Sime for tolerating swarms of mosquitoes while lying on his stomach in the grass just to get this shot!