The Sooty Fox Sparrow group is our standard migrant and winter visitor in Monterey County. It is the one we need to learn first — in all its variations — before moving on to identify members of other Fox Sparrow groups that are rare here on the central California coast.

Sooty Fox Sparrows are currently allocated to six subspecies* with the approximate ranges shown by blue circles in this map (from Weckstein et al. 2002). They nest along the coast of Alaska and British Columbia from the inner Aleutian Islands to Vancouver Island. They are famous for the "leap-frog" migration pattern. Those subspecies breeding the farthest north (unalaschcensis, insularis, sinuosa) winter the farthest south, thus "leap frogging" over the wintering ranges of more southern-breeding subspecies. The southernmost subspecies (fuliginosa) winters from within its breeding range to northern California, while those nesting much farther north fly all the way to southern California to spend the winter.

* other subspecies have been formally described, most recently chilcatensis from the Chilkat River area of BC/AK, but only the six on the map appear to be widely accepted at the current time. Others, such as meruloides [often found on specimen tags] have been merged into annectens.

The southernmost breeding Sooty Fox Sparrows (townsendi, fuliginosa) are exceedingly dark, and have very extensive spotting on the underparts. The one above is rather heavily marked below; it could be annectens or maybe townsendi. It was photographed at Palo Alto Baylands, Santa Clara Co., on 16 Oct 2007 (© Tom Grey). At this date it could be an arriving winterer or a migrant still heading south. Its tail is decidedly duller than the ruddy uppertail coverts.

Likewise, the one to the left is quite dark and heavily spotted below [photo 29 Mar 2008 Ed Levin Park, Santa Clara Co. © Glen Tepke]. It has gray in the face and neck to the back is dark brown. The wings and tail are rusty-brown with a reddish cast (like the one above) but those are still so dark they don't contrast sharply with an overall gray-backed, gray-headed bird (as Slate-colored Fox Sparrow should be). My guess is that this bird is townsendi, but it could be assigned anywhere in the 'middle' of the Sooty range: sinuosa to townsendi.

This one (right), photographed 16 Oct 2005 in Mendocino Co. (© Glen Tepke), is almost blackish brown, with exceedingly dark flanks and a very dull, dark tail; I suspect it is fuliginosa. Mid-October is about the time such a bird would arrive to winter at this northwestern California locale. The fuliginosa Fox Sparrows may be the dominant subspecies on the northwestern California coast, and becoming scarcer as one reaches the central coast.

On all the Sooty Fox Sparrows shown, note that the lower mandible is always contrastingly yellow to yellow-orange.

In Monterey County there are 3 specimens attributed to fuliginosa, and others attributed to townsendi were collected in Santa Cruz County. Clearly some of these birds winter here. This one (left), photographed at Zmudowski SB on 21 Jan 2007 (© D. Roberson), seems to me to be either townsendi or fuliginosa because it is very dark brown, heavily marked below, and has a dark tail. This one was wintering in coastal chaparral.

In short, local observers on the central coast should study their Fox Sparrows, and begin to sort them into manageable groups. Most should fall within the mid-range Sooty Fox Sparrow set, typified by sinuosa and annectens; a few wintering birds will be decidedly darker, consistent with townsendi or fuliginosa; and a few migrants spring or fall can be paler, suggesting unalaschcensis or insularis.

Each Sooty Fox Sparrow should have a yellow or yellow-orange lower mandible and, if they call, it will be a rich thik note.

I know very little about the northwesternmost races unalaschcensis and insularis, which are supposed to be a paler brown above than sinuosa/annectens. They are simply migrants through our area: a MTY specimen of unalaschcensis is from 10 Mar 1920, a good migration date, although a Dec specimen attributed to insularis suggests that it wintered locally. I don't have any examples of either westernmost race that I'm comfortable with identifying.

I don't know about this one (below), photographed 5 Nov 2006 at Alviso, Santa Clara County (© Tom Grey). It does seem very brown but not really dark brown, and the gray in the face is much reduced. The bill is so yellow that it includes everything but the dark culmen. The uppertail coverts are rusty-red, but it seems to me that the wings and tail are less so (although still ruddy in tone). Perhaps this is an actual unalaschcensis? The date is okay for a migrant through the Bay Area. On the other hand, this might just be sinuosa with reduced gray in the face.

Photos: All photos © Don Roberson, except as otherwise indicated; all rights reserved.

Literature cited:

Roberson, D. 2002. Monterey Birds, 2d ed. Monterey Pen. Audubon Soc., Carmel, CA.

Unitt, P. 2004. San Diego County Bird Atlas. San Diego Nat. Hist. Mus., San Diego.