ID Toolkit

Observing behavior

Paying attention to differences in behavior can help you recognize different subspecies

Contributed by David Allen Sibley
Published: February 19, 2010
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Contributing Editor David Allen Sibley describes how paying attention to behavior made it easy to recognize two subspecies of Savannah Sparrow in the Detroit Lakes area of Minnesota in spring 2007 and to distinguish resident Belding’s Savannah Sparrows from wintering Savannah Sparrows in San Diego in March 2009. "Once I was able to sort the birds by behavior," Sibley writes, "the differences in coloration stood out."


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