Odd Birds

This year two unusual house sparrows have been visiting my backyard, the darker bird with white wing feathers forming a "v" or heart shape on his back and a lighter sparrow sporting larger white wing patches.

I call them Mr. V and Angel.

I first noticed little Angel while watching quail in late May.

typical house sparrow (left), "Angel" (right)

taking a dust bath

My last sightings of Angel were in July:

Mr. V has been a regular backyard visitor since June.

And he's still here today:

I also observed a strange looking phainopepla one day in October.

For comparison, the picture on the left is of a normal colored male phainopepla with all black head feathers.

Notice the white head feathers on this fellow:

Have a good day!