Posted by Gary Potter (198.81.17.24) on July 29, 2002 at 23:45:22:
I agree with the others that this bird is a Baird's Sparrow. Since I've never seen a Baird's, I had to refer to Beadle & Rising's sparrow books. I think that the pink legs, white outer rectrices,and general streaking and coloring eliminate all but Savannah and Baird's. As others have noted the streaking is too sparse for Savannah, and the center of the crown has a yellowish-ochre patch which is also indicative of Baird's. This patch appears to be more yellow than ochre, but I think this is due to a slight overexposure of the photo, but it is too wide for the patch on a Savannah.