IDing a Sparrow

This little sparrow showed up in the yard last week. We think it's a Chipping Sparrow, but we only see those in the summer, so it seems a bit late in the year for it. It has been quite a mild fall, so perhaps that explains it. I'm going to post it to whatbird.com to get confirmation.

Key points of identifying a Chipping Sparrow-
the brown cap
the black eyeline
the long tail
the smaller size relative to other sparrows

They look quite similar to the American Tree Sparrow too, so that can cause some confusion. Cornell (of course) has a great comparison chart to help with IDs between the two.

http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/learning/trickyIDs/sparrows/

Apparently they will eat spilt seed on the ground, which this guy was doing too. In the spring/summer we get groups of them and they have a lovely song. The males sing while perched up in the high tree branches.

I'll post the confirmation once we get it.


UPDATE: http://www.whatbird.com/forums/forums/thread/127053.aspx
The comments confirm it's a Chipping, but it's also noted that it seems quite late to be seeing this bird in this location in mid/late November. I hope he/she gets going to a nice warm place for the winter. The snow can't be too far off.