Plain-backed Sparrow

After several days spent in dense overcast rain forest, it was a pleasant surprise to stop at an open, sunny, grassy and sandy wetland area en route to the airport. The light was good, there was a beautiful lake in the distance and most importantly, I had good views of all the birds. I have to admit to never knowingly having had Plain-backed Sparrow Passer flaveolus on my radar in all my time as a bird watcher. This was the only day that we saw the species, some twenty rather nondescript individuals. The plain features of the unstreaked female bird with a long supercilium and eye ring can be seen at some distance in this photograph.

Plain-backed Sparrow is also know as Pegu Sparrow or Olive-backed Sparrow, and can be found in the Asian countries of Burma, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam and Malaysia. It has a stable population and is classified as least concern. Its preferred habitat is open woodland, coastal scrub, dry open areas and edges of cultivation.

References: Wikipedia