Please cite as: Craves, J.A. 1999. White-throated Sparrow with orange lores. Mich. Birds Nat. Hist. 6:87-88.
White-throated Sparrow with orange lores
Julie A. Craves, Rouge River Bird Observatory, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI 48128
On 27 September 1998, a White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)
was captured as part of the on-going banding operation of the Rouge River
Bird Observatory, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Wayne Co. The
bird was aged as a 
hatching-year
bird by its gray-brown eye color (Pyle 1997), and banded 1571-43297. It
was normal in all respects, except that the lores were a burnt orange color
rather than the typical yellow. Photographs were taken and the bird
was released. This White-throated Sparrow is one of over 700 of this
species that has been banded at this location since 1992.
Orange coloration in place of yellow is most readily observed in the terminal tail band of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum). This was first seen over 30 years ago, and has since been traced to the ingestion of rhodoxanthin, a red pigment found in the berries of an introduced shrub, Morrow’s Honeysuckle (Lonicera morrowii) (Hudon and Brush 1989, Witmer 1996). The pigment must be consumed during feather development in order to result in altered plumage coloration.
Other yellow-plumaged species known to consume the fruits of Morrow’s Honeysuckle have been reported with orange variants. Mulvihill et al. (1992) provide records of nine Yellow-breasted Chats (Icteria virens) and two Kentucky Warblers (Oporornis formosus) with varying amounts of orange plumage.
Brooks (1994) reports eight White-throated Sparrows with orange lores banded in western New York during the fall seasons from 1990-93. Four were hatching-year, two were after-hatching year, and two were aged unknown. They were among over 2700 white-throats banded at three locations between 1985-93.
At Pavillion Twp., Kalamazoo Co., three hatching year White-throated Sparrows with orange lores were banded as part of the Kalamazoo Nature Center's on-going operation (R. and B. Keith, pers. comm.). These were the only orange-lored birds out of 1,043 banded at this location between 1990 and 1998.
Observations of rhodoxanthin-induced color variation in birds are of
interest because they coincide with the spread of an exotic Asian species,
the Morrow’s Honeysuckle and its hybrids, from their point of introduction
in the eastern United States. These bush honeysuckles are considered
invasive and are often targeted for management or control (Luken 1996).
White-throated Sparrows nest generally north of the 44th parallel in Michigan
(Ewert 1991). Some (11.6% of adults and 21.3% of hatching-years)
are still completing their prebasic molt when they are captured at RRBO
in the fall, although this usually involves the contour feathers of the
breast and not the head or lores. While it’s possible the sparrows
could be acquiring the rhodoxanthin along their migratory route, it seems
more likely it was ingested at or near their nesting areas. However,
both RRBO and Kalamazoo Nature Center have banded several Cedar Waxwings,
locally nesting species, with orange tail bands. At RRBO, the first
was captured in 1994.
[Note: Another hatching-year White-throated Sparrow was banded at RRBO on 16 September 1999. Also, I found another record of a White-throated Sparrow with orange lores banded in Harford Co., MD on 14 October 1983, published in Maryland BirdLife 43:31.]
Acknowledgments
This is contribution No. 10 of the Rouge River Bird Observatory,
University of Michigan-Dearborn.
Literature Cited
Brooks, E.W. 1994. Diet-induced color variation in the White-throated Sparrow. North American Bird Bander 19:12-13.
Ewert, D.N. 1991.White-throated Sparrow. Pages 488-489 in The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Michigan (Brewer, R., G.A. McPeek, and R.J. Adams, Jr., eds.) East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
Hudon, J., and A.H. Brush. 1989. Probable dietary basis of a color variant of the Cedar Waxwing. Jrl. Field Ornithology 60:361-368.
Luken, J.O. 1996. Bush Honeysuckle. Pp. 60-61 in Invasive Plants, J.M. Randall and J. Marinelli, eds. New York: Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
Mulvilhill, R.S., Parkes, K.C., Leberman, R.C. and D.S. Wood. 1992. Evidence supporting a dietary basis for orange-tipped rectrices in the Cedar Waxwing. Jrl. Field Ornithology 63:212-216.
Pyle, P. 1997. Identification Guide to North American Birds, Part I: Columbidae to Ploceidae. Bolinas, CA: Slate Creek Press.
Witmer, M.C. 1996. Consequences of an alien shrub on the plumage coloration and ecology of Cedar Waxwings. Auk 113:735-743.
