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Thrush"},{"term":"Technology"},{"term":"Tibet"},{"term":"Time-lapse"},{"term":"Tips"},{"term":"Tracks"},{"term":"Training"},{"term":"University of Minnesota"},{"term":"Volunteer"},{"term":"White Nose Syndrome"},{"term":"White Oak"},{"term":"Wild Turkey"},{"term":"Wind"},{"term":"Winter Finches"},{"term":"Winter Wren"},{"term":"Woodpeckers"},{"term":"drawings"},{"term":"endangered species"},{"term":"nuclear power"},{"term":"nuclear waste"},{"term":"prairie island"},{"term":"twitter"},{"term":"wolf"},{"term":"xcel energy"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Twin Cities Naturalist"},"subtitle":{"type":"html","$t":""},"link":[{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/feeds\/posts\/default"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/-\/Fox+Sparrow?alt=json-in-script\u0026max-results=5"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/search\/label\/Fox%20Sparrow"},{"rel":"hub","href":"http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kirk"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15821760169329951459"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"generator":{"version":"7.00","uri":"http://www.blogger.com","$t":"Blogger"},"openSearch$totalResults":{"$t":"4"},"openSearch$startIndex":{"$t":"1"},"openSearch$itemsPerPage":{"$t":"5"},"entry":[{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6896212391193095248.post-7933638262388478806"},"published":{"$t":"2010-04-03T09:46:00.000-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2010-04-03T09:47:08.305-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Birding"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Birds"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Fox Sparrow"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"video"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Which sub-species of Fox Sparrow do you have?"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/S7Txv2uLC_I\/AAAAAAAAB7k\/mesLFu2hSkQ\/s1600\/P4010395.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/S7Txv2uLC_I\/AAAAAAAAB7k\/mesLFu2hSkQ\/s400\/P4010395.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5455250853097835506\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe fox sparrows showing up this week got me thinking about these fascinating birds again. Did you know that there is a lot of disagreement over this chunky sparrow? Is it one kind of bird or many different closely related species? The AOU currently recognizes 18 sub species.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMinnesota's own Robert M. Zink at the Bell Museum of Natural History has taken a very close look at these migrants that show up each spring. He wrote the page turner, \u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EThe Geography of Mitochondrial DNA Variation, Population Structure, Hybridization, and Species Limits in the Fox Sparrow (Passerella iliaca)\u003C\/span\u003E. If you subscribe to JSTOR or happen to have issue Volume 48 issue 1 of the Journal Evolution from 1994 sitting around then you too can read all about subtle differences in the DNA of Fox Sparrows from around the country. More recently he published The recent Evolutionary History of the Fox Sparrows which was published in the AUK in 2003. Wonderfully, you can \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/fm1.fieldmuseum.org\/aa\/Files\/jweckstein\/Auk2003Passerella.pdf\"\u003Edownload this as a pdf for free from the Field Museum\u003C\/a\u003E. I learned that according to analysis of DNA, \u003Ci\u003ESpizella arborea \u003C\/i\u003E or the American Tree Sparrow is the closest relative of the fox sparrow. Makes sense. Back to the fox sparrows...\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI look forward to seeing Fox Sparrows each spring and I love their foraging behavior of scratching at the ground with little backwards jumps. I took this quick and dirty video of the first fox sparrow to show up under the feeders at work.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cobject width=\"480\" height=\"385\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/EmXT-WAewUo\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;fs=1\u0026amp;color1=0x234900\u0026amp;color2=0x4e9e00\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/EmXT-WAewUo\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;fs=1\u0026amp;color1=0x234900\u0026amp;color2=0x4e9e00\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" width=\"480\" height=\"385\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs I hinted at before, there's some disagreement it seems about which species of bird is in the video above. \"Officially,\" meaning according to the AOU, there is only one kind of Fox Sparrow. The scientific name is Passerella iliaca. There are four generally accepted sub-species however. Now depending on whether you are a splitter or a lumper this will either excite you or make you say, \"Here we go again.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe four major sub-species of Fox Sparrow are:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E• The Red Fox Sparrow (\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EP. i. iliaca\u003C\/span\u003E ) Generally central and east coast. This is the brightest red thus the name.\u003Cbr \/\u003E• Slate-colored Fox Sparrow (\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EP. i. schistacea\u003C\/span\u003E) Found in the Rocky  Mountains. It has a tiny bill with a gray head and mantle, brown wings,  brown breast streaks, and a russet tail.\u003Cbr \/\u003E• Sooty Fox Sparrow (\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EP. i. unalaschcensis\u003C\/span\u003E) Found on the west coast. It is generally browner than the Red Fox Sparrow.\u003Cbr \/\u003E• Thick-billed Fox Sparrow (\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EP. i. megarhyncha\u003C\/span\u003E) Found in the Sierra Nevadas. It has a particularly thick bill, thus the name.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo clearly what we have here in Minnesota is a Red Fox Sparrow right?  Well, kind of. Research such as that done by Zink reveals that the \"Red Fox Sparrow\" is actually made up of even smaller groups. There are actually two distinct groups, the Eastern Fox Sparrow (\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EPasserella iliaca iliaca\u003C\/span\u003E) and the Yukon Fox Sparrow (\u003Cspan style=\"font-style: italic;\"\u003EPasserella iliaca zaboria\u003C\/span\u003E). What's the difference? The Yukon has a browner malar stripe and a grayer head. That's in general. It can be very hard to distinguish them in the field. Range is probably the best way for the general observer to tell them apart.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo, which do we have in Minnesota? We're close to the divide but in general it seems the birds in Minnesota and to the west are Yukon Fox Sparrows while birds in Wisconsin all the way to the east coast are Eastern Fox Sparrows.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIf you're a life lister, be sure to note fox sparrows you see in other parts of the country. They may some day be split into separate species.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E~Kirk\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/button.php?u=kirkmona\"\/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\nCopyright © 2012-2015 Kirk Mona, TwinCitiesNaturalist.com \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\"\u003EOriginal post here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/feeds\/7933638262388478806\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6896212391193095248\u0026postID=7933638262388478806","title":"1 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/7933638262388478806"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/7933638262388478806"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/2010\/04\/which-sub-species-of-fox-sparrow-do-you.html","title":"Which sub-species of Fox Sparrow do you have?"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kirk"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15821760169329951459"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/S7Txv2uLC_I\/AAAAAAAAB7k\/mesLFu2hSkQ\/s72-c\/P4010395.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"1"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6896212391193095248.post-6619240071074747319"},"published":{"$t":"2010-04-01T08:50:00.001-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2010-04-01T08:52:32.832-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Birding"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Birds"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Fox Sparrow"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Foxy"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"I'm happy to report that the Fox Sparrows finally showed up this morning. In honor of their arrival, here's some Jimi Hendrix.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cobject height=\"385\" width=\"480\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/OqQOaA2LPRo\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;fs=1\u0026amp;color1=0x234900\u0026amp;color2=0x4e9e00\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"\u003E\u003Cparam name=\"allowscriptaccess\" value=\"always\"\u003E\u003Cembed src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/v\/OqQOaA2LPRo\u0026amp;hl=en_US\u0026amp;fs=1\u0026amp;color1=0x234900\u0026amp;color2=0x4e9e00\" type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" allowscriptaccess=\"always\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" height=\"385\" width=\"480\"\u003E\u003C\/embed\u003E\u003C\/object\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E~Kirk\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/button.php?u=kirkmona\"\/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\nCopyright © 2012-2015 Kirk Mona, TwinCitiesNaturalist.com \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\"\u003EOriginal post here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/feeds\/6619240071074747319\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6896212391193095248\u0026postID=6619240071074747319","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/6619240071074747319"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/6619240071074747319"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/2010\/04\/foxy.html","title":"Foxy"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kirk"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15821760169329951459"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6896212391193095248.post-8373708319443578122"},"published":{"$t":"2009-10-07T20:02:00.000-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-10-07T20:22:24.578-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Bird Banding"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Fox Sparrow"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Identification"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"White-throated Sparrow"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Winter Wren"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"How to tell how old a bird is"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszUnrElBKI\/AAAAAAAABk8\/bynN0BEKBM8\/s1600-h\/PA070001.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszUnrElBKI\/AAAAAAAABk8\/bynN0BEKBM8\/s400\/PA070001.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389916632097555618\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EToday we taught our Fall Migration class so that means bird banding. This was the first non-raining day all week which made for a lot nicer conditions. The lead bander for the day was non other than my co-host on the podcast, Paul Smithson. I took a break during the day to see what they were catching and learn a little more about ageing birds. When I arrived, Paul was taking out the first bird of the day, a Fox Sparrow. This was a treat as it was the first Fox Sparrow at the nature center this fall. I love these big robust sparrows and their feeding behavior. Paul set to the task of gathering information about the bird to be recorded before it was let go. One of the things banders try to determine is how old a bird is. Often the distinction is between a hatching year bird (HY) or after hatching year bird (AHY). In the photo below he's looking at the outer rectrices to see how worn they are.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszUoiupDqI\/AAAAAAAABlM\/S6GjunL9WUM\/s1600-h\/PA070002.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszUoiupDqI\/AAAAAAAABlM\/S6GjunL9WUM\/s400\/PA070002.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389916647037931170\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHere's the diagram banders use to determine the wear on the outer rectrices of a Fox Sparrow. Ideally they would look like one of the two drawings marked \"Fall.\" In reality, that doesn't always work. In this case, the feathers looked somewhere in between the two drawings. He checked a couple of other feathers but wasn't confident enough to make a determination. It was probably a hatching year bird but without enough certain information the age was put down as unknown. \u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszUoGC2uzI\/AAAAAAAABlE\/s95AxsIg1u8\/s1600-h\/PA070003.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszUoGC2uzI\/AAAAAAAABlE\/s95AxsIg1u8\/s400\/PA070003.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389916639338085170\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EA very different technique came into play while determining the age of all the White-throated sparrows that were caught this morning. In the fall, white-throated sparrows can be aged by looking at the color of the iris of the eye. A hatching year bird will have a grayish brown to brown iris while an after hatching year bird will have a reddish brown iris. The distinction can be subtle and good lighting helps. Can you tell what color the iris is for the bird below? It was only slightly easier in person, which is to say, hard.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszUpnZUnCI\/AAAAAAAABlc\/v-r5EwQX7eo\/s1600-h\/PA070013.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 298px;\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszUpnZUnCI\/AAAAAAAABlc\/v-r5EwQX7eo\/s400\/PA070013.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389916665470557218\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI thought it would be fun to include another photo here of a white-throated sparrow. Look at the difference in the heads. There are two different color morphs of the White-throated Sparrow. The one above is a tan-striped morph as the light colored stripes on the head are tan. In contrast, the bird below is a white-striped morph. (The stripes looked even whiter in person)\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszVOA63f7I\/AAAAAAAABlk\/r2zY6liqUC0\/s1600-h\/PA070014.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 298px;\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszVOA63f7I\/AAAAAAAABlk\/r2zY6liqUC0\/s400\/PA070014.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389917290797432754\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003EThese are not two different sub-species. They are both represented about evenly in the population. What is really fascinating is that research suggests that the birds almost always mate with a bird that has the opposite color morph. Also, both males and females of the white-stripe morph tend to be more aggressive during mating season. The more aggressive white-striped females are preferred by both color types of males. Ironically, both types  of females prefer the less aggressive tan-striped males. So, white-striped females do well and tan-striped males do well while white-striped males and tan-striped females do less well. That's all clear right?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnother fun bird of the day was a Winter Wren. It was the first winter wren caught at the nature center in 2009. I just love that little tail!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszUpLI6x1I\/AAAAAAAABlU\/djKYXe7Y0lk\/s1600-h\/PA070026.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;\" src=\"http:\/\/1.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszUpLI6x1I\/AAAAAAAABlU\/djKYXe7Y0lk\/s400\/PA070026.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5389916657885562706\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThat's all for tonight. Thanks for stopping in.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E~Kirk\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/button.php?u=kirkmona\"\/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\nCopyright © 2012-2015 Kirk Mona, TwinCitiesNaturalist.com \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\"\u003EOriginal post here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/feeds\/8373708319443578122\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6896212391193095248\u0026postID=8373708319443578122","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/8373708319443578122"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/8373708319443578122"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/2009\/10\/how-to-tell-how-old-bird-is.html","title":"How to tell how old a bird is"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kirk"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15821760169329951459"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/SszUnrElBKI\/AAAAAAAABk8\/bynN0BEKBM8\/s72-c\/PA070001.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"2"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6896212391193095248.post-5853514670528266905"},"published":{"$t":"2009-03-25T18:27:00.001-05:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2009-04-21T13:04:02.231-05:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Birds"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Fox Sparrow"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"video"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Lookin' Foxy"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca onblur=\"try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}\" href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/ScqVGm_JD_I\/AAAAAAAABFc\/BESzQgtbxBo\/s1600-h\/P3250010.JPG\"\u003E\u003Cimg style=\"margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 327px;\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/ScqVGm_JD_I\/AAAAAAAABFc\/BESzQgtbxBo\/s400\/P3250010.JPG\" alt=\"\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5317226250841427954\" border=\"0\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe Fox Sparrows are kicking though the twin cities right now. We saw one last week but a different one has now found the bounty of seeds under the feeders. More will probably join in over the next weeks.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ECheck out the distinctive feeding behavior of the fox sparrow in this short video clip from lunchtime today. They kick and jump backwards to reveal hidden seeds.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ccenter\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ciframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https:\/\/www.blogger.com\/video.g?token=AD6v5dyLipi5-x3XDO8OfvATWuJ4KkHMT-d928sGeOgMsbEp9KI_KQsJ8ZYD61tvEM9E9j3Vhi8u5wg0OFp1V15NyQ' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/center\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E~Kirk\u003Cdiv class=\"blogger-post-footer\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/natureblognetwork.com\/button.php?u=kirkmona\"\/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\nCopyright © 2012-2015 Kirk Mona, TwinCitiesNaturalist.com \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\"\u003EOriginal post here.\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/video-play.mp4?contentId=e7e76249d3e5fd0a\u0026type=video%2Fmp4","length":"0","rel":"enclosure","type":"video\/mp4"},{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/feeds\/5853514670528266905\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/comment.g?blogID=6896212391193095248\u0026postID=5853514670528266905","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/5853514670528266905"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6896212391193095248\/posts\/default\/5853514670528266905"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.twincitiesnaturalist.com\/2009\/03\/lookin-foxy.html","title":"Lookin' Foxy"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Kirk"},"uri":{"$t":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/profile\/15821760169329951459"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"16","height":"16","src":"https:\/\/img1.blogblog.com\/img\/b16-rounded.gif"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_TwyI2AUl8U0\/ScqVGm_JD_I\/AAAAAAAABFc\/BESzQgtbxBo\/s72-c\/P3250010.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}}]}});