Birds in Nature - images of wild birds by Richard Ditch

Subject: Baird's Sparrow (Ammodramus bairdii)
Place: San Rafael Valley, Patagonia, AZ, USA
Date: November 1994
Equipment: Nikon 8008, Nikkor EDIF 400/5.6 & TC14 (= 560/8), tripod
Film: Kodachrome 200
Exposure: center weighted meter, bright AZ sun, no fill flash
Scan: Minolta Dimage, full frame

Commentary: Birding and bird photography are much more than colorful or big showy birds to me and many other birders. It also involves LBJ's (Little Brown Jobs) that require good views to appreciate and identify correctly, even when these LBJ's are difficult to see. One of the extreme challenges of winter birding in Arizona is seeing a Baird's Sparrow well enough to put it on your list.

Baird's Sparrows are most easily seen on their breeding territory in the prairies along the US-Canada border where males will sing from elevated perches. In the winter they are extremely mouse-like as they forage alone in high grass. To see one in AZ requires finding the right type of grass, walking through it hoping a bird will flush, and trying to see it when it lands and scurries into cover. It takes a lot of time, effort, and luck. Photographing one in such conditions takes even more effort and luck.

This image shows the habitat as well as the sparrow and demonstrates how difficult these birds are to see even after one is isolated in the open.