Identifying Sparrows

It’s that time of year again: sparrow season!  The subtleties of plumage and behavior in the various sparrow species make them a lot of fun to study, as most birders will affirm.  Because North America is rich in sparrows, I’m going to limit my focus mainly to the common sparrows of the Southeast.  Since I’ve also spent a lot of time in northwestern Arkansas, I’ll throw in a few species from that region, as well.  Who knows?  Some of them might show up in your backyard.

Probably the most abundant sparrow in woods and thickets in southeastern North America right now is the White-throated Sparrow.  Even when you can’t see these birds, you can usually find them by listening for their sputtering pink! calls.  They also sing quite frequently on the wintering grounds, and the song is a plaintive, whistled melody that is very easy to learn (a couple of helpful mnemonics are “Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody” and “Oh, sweet Canada, Canada, Canada”).  Some White-throated Sparrows have white “eyebrow” and crown stripes as well as white throats, while others are drabber, with buff-colored stripes.  

White-throated Sparrow

The White-throated Sparrow has a slightly larger cousin, the White-crowned Sparrow, which also has bold stripes on the head.  While White-crowned Sparrows are apparently very common in the winter months in many regions of the continent, they seem to be scarce where I live; I have seen them at only a handful of locations in Mississippi.  When I lived in Arkansas, however, I observed them regularly, usually from October to early May.  They even showed up at my feeders.  In my experience, you might have good luck searching for White-crowneds in habitats that are slightly more open and brushy than the usual places where you find White-throated Sparrows.  

White-crowned Sparrow

If the habitat is really open, as in fields and pastureland, you will likely find Savannah Sparrows.  These are small, short-tailed, brown-streaked sparrows with yellow lores (that is, the areas just in front of the eyes).  These birds have high-pitched, insect-like calls and usually forage in loose flocks.

Savannah Sparrow (perched in willows, yes, but in a marshy field)

The Chipping Sparrow and the Field Sparrow are other common sparrows of more open types of habitats.  The Chipping Sparrow is numerous throughout the year in the Southeast, while the Field Sparrow is a bit harder to find.  However, like the Chipping Sparrow, it commonly breeds in southeastern North America.  The bouncing, trilling song of the Field Sparrow is one of my favorite sounds to hear in old fields and brushy cedar groves in the summer.  The Chipping Sparrow’s dry, almost mechanical-sounding song, on the other hand, may not be as aurally pleasing, but hearing it always reminds me of the open pine woodlands where the species usually nests.

Chipping Sparrow being banded

Field Sparrow

As far as plumage goes, both Chipping and Field Sparrows have plain underparts, prominent wing bars, and long tails.  Field Sparrows’ outer tail feathers are white—a useful field mark to remember when the birds are flitting away from you.  The Field Sparrow’s white eye ring and pink bill are distinctive year-round, while the Chipping Sparrow becomes somewhat drabber after molting into winter plumage—although it does retain its eye-line and crown. 

Song Sparrows commonly occur throughout most of the United States during the colder months.  In many regions, they are year-round residents.  In Mississippi, however, they are gone by mid-spring, even though the males will occasionally sing their territorial songs in the winter.  Away from Song Sparrow breeding territories, you’re far more likely to hear the nasal, raspy call that the birds use for contacts and alarms.  The Song Sparrow is pretty distinctive in appearance, being fairly large and long-tailed.  It has brown streaks on its breast and sides, and a very prominent central breast spot.

Song Sparrow

All that said, the Song Sparrow may be confused with the Lincoln’s Sparrow in places where both species are common.  In my part of the southeastern U.S., Lincoln’s Sparrows are quite rare during the winter.  However, when I lived in northwestern Arkansas, I saw many of them.  They’re smaller than Song Sparrows, with shorter tails and more grayish coloration on their heads.  If Song Sparrows look as though their jagged breast markings were drawn with crayons, then Lincoln’s Sparrows look like they’ve been finely penciled. 

Lincoln's Sparrow

Lincoln’s Sparrows are closely related to the more abundant Swamp Sparrows, which—true to their name—love skulking in marshes, wetlands, and moist thickets.  Unlike Song and Lincoln’s Sparrows, Swamp Sparrows lack bold underpart markings; the patterns on their breasts and bellies are more like smudgy watercolor.  Their reddish wings and gray-and-brown heads make them easy to recognize, and their chip calls are louder and more emphatic than those of most other sparrows.  

Swamp Sparrow -- note gray head and reddish wings

Swamp Sparrow underpart view

The Fox Sparrow is another of the relatively common wintering sparrows.  As its name suggests, it—or, at least, its eastern form—is patterned with bright rufous streaks and stripes.  In western North America, there are other color forms in addition to the “red” one.  To be honest, I don’t see these large and flashy sparrows particularly often where I live.  My tip for finding them is to check in thickets of berry-producing shrubs and vines in wooded areas.  When I find Fox Sparrows, they are usually single or in very small groups.  Keep alert for their loud smack! calls.  

Fox Sparrow -- note yellow bill, gray on head, and extensive rufous coloration.

Now let’s look at a sparrow that isn’t brown, but slate-gray and white.  The Dark-eyed Junco is a common wintering species in thickets and open woods all over the U.S.  If you have bird feeders, you may see it feeding in small flocks on the ground.  When startled, the birds give trilling flight calls and flash their white outer tail feathers.

Dark-eyed Junco

For good measure, here are some other sparrow species that I saw when I lived in Arkansas.  Unlike the previous birds, all of these are very rare in Mississippi.  My time spent observing them out-of-state will hopefully come in handy, though, if they ever show up around my current birding spots!

One of my favorites, mainly for its flashiness, is the Harris’s Sparrow.  This is an enormous sparrow, even bigger than Fox Sparrows, and its bold black crown and “beard,” along with the salmon-pink bill, draw the eye.  I spotted this particular Harris’s from my apartment window while I was working at my desk one day in late April.  You can tell that it is in breeding plumage rather than winter plumage, since its head is pale gray instead of buff-colored.  This was an interesting day for migratory birds, actually; a Rose-breasted Grosbeak landed in the thicket shortly after I snapped pictures of the sparrow.  Harris’s Sparrows are mainly western birds and occur very rarely in Mississippi.

Harris's Sparrow

The bird in the photo below appeared, along with a companion that I didn’t manage to photograph, in the woods near my apartment on a warm day in May.  Although the identification of these birds was quite evident to me—despite the fact that I hadn’t seen this species before—  I thought that, in looks and behavior, these Clay-colored Sparrows were uncannily similar to Chipping Sparrows—but also just different enough that they stood out from the other birdlife in the area.  While Clay-colored Sparrows pass through Arkansas (and much of central North America) during migration, relatively few of them travel through Mississippi. 

Clay-colored Sparrow

An even more unusual species for Mississippi is the American Tree Sparrow.  American Tree Sparrows showed up in my “yard” in moderate numbers during a snowy winter in Arkansas.  Like Chipping Sparrows, they have very plain and pale breasts—at least, for the most part: one of the key field marks of the American Tree Sparrow is a single dark spot in the center of the breast.  This species is commonly found farther north than the area where I currently live, but there have been sightings in more southerly regions.  At any rate, I’m glad that I have had the chance to see it.

American Tree Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos

Although sparrows can sometimes be confusing to sort out in the field, the key is to pay close attention to their plumage, behavior, and habitat.  Familiarizing yourself with the common species in your area will also help you to detect rare and unusual species more quickly.  Happy sparrow-watching!

A Snapshot of Autumn

There are so many rapid changes in the fall season that it can be hard to keep up with them all: temperatures decreasing; daylight hours steadily shortening; leaves turning yellow, red, orange, and brown; herbaceous plants dying in the fields; birds, butterflies, and dragonflies migrating; animals of all sorts fattening up; etc.  Taking photographs of nature helps with tracking some of these ecosystem-level changes and cycles.  Many wildflowers, including giant ironweed (Vernonia gigantea), a gorgeous native plant, have gone to seed.  

 

giant ironweed with seeds

 In August, these ironweed plants looked like this:

ironweed in August

However, as you can see in both the top photo and the one below, some of the ironweed is still flowering.  This species blooms through the late summer and into the fall.  Its flowers and leaves provide food for insects, and the seeds attract several species of birds.

September ironweed blossoms

Not all of the wildflowers are past their peak.  The goldenrod (which is probably the tall goldenrod, Solidago altissima), growing among the greenery of the woodland edges, has such vivid yellow flowers that it almost seems to glow.  These autumnal plants will probably continue to bloom for at least another month.

goldenrod

The toll that the long season has taken on some of the insects and spiders can be clearly seen.  A common wood-nymph butterfly, a species typically found around shaded forest edges, looks a little the worse for wear.  The damage to its wings is, in all likelihood, the result of a few narrow escapes from birds.

common wood-nymph

One of the many orb-weaver spiders hanging around in the mid-level vegetation is missing legs: two of them seem to be entirely gone, and about half of a third one has also been amputated.  I don’t know whether this damage is from a bird or from something else, but, despite its disability, the arachnid is apparently still managing to eke out a living.

orb-weaver

Even though I don’t know for certain what caused the spider’s injuries, it’s fun to speculate.  Who knows what the culprit might have been?  While a lot of the birds around here feed on seeds and fruits, many more are either partly or exclusively insectivorous—or, since spiders aren’t insects, maybe the more accurate term would be invertivorous (invertebrate-eating).  Anyway, Red-bellied Woodpeckers certainly could be fierce and daring enough to have done it, from what I’ve observed.  I doubt that I’ll ever forget the afternoon at Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge, over a decade ago, when I saw a Red-bellied Woodpecker and a Northern Cardinal zipping through the woods in hungry pursuit of a Luna moth.  Woodpeckers might not seem like the most agile of birds, but I can attest that this Red-bellied was quite maneuverable!  I never saw what became of the Luna moth, but maybe it managed to evade the predators.  

A much less hurried—for now, at least—Red-bellied Woodpecker clings to a lichen-covered branch.  No need to chase moths or nab giant spiders—there must be plenty of food to discover beneath the tree bark.

Red-bellied Woodpecker on branch

Eastern Bluebirds patrol the grassy areas under the power lines, hunting for insects.  Their large, dark eyes and “open” faces give bluebirds an appearance of inquisitiveness.  That may not be entirely a fanciful notion, though, since bluebirds are great at investigating every inch of their environment for food and nesting places.  Any crack, crevice, or hole of sufficient size in a tree, box, or fencepost might serve as a suitable bluebird nest spot, and all sorts of arthropods and fruits make up the species’ diet.

Eastern Bluebird

A short, squeaky sound that recalls the noise made by sneakers on a gym floor alerts me to the arrival of a Rose-breasted Grosbeak.  Then another one flies in, landing very close to the first.  It’s the peak migration time for this species, and these two individuals seem to be merely stopping over for a brief spell.  They remain in the tops of the trees along the creek run for only a few minutes before flying away.

The first of the grosbeaks lands.

Two grosbeaks -- the earlier bird is on the right.

The lower photo provides an interesting comparison between the two individuals.  The bird at the right is definitely a male, and at least two years old, given that it has bold black-and-white wings, extensive dark feathering on the head, and a very distinct breast patch.  However, I’m not so certain about the bird on the left.  It’s either a female or a hatching-year male.  In the spring and summer, older male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks have entirely black heads and bright rose-pink breast patches.  The McGill Bird Observatory does an excellent job of describing the variation in these birds’ plumages (http://www.migrationresearch.org/mbo/id/rbgr.html#ahymb), and their website is one of the sources I’ve perused in my attempts to figure out the age and sex of birds that I’ve seen.  As I’ve learned over the years, though, ageing and sexing birds isn’t always possible in the field.  Obviously, birds that don’t display sexual dimorphism, such as Northern Mockingbirds, can’t be definitively sexed in the field under most circumstances (including when they are singing, apparently, since both males and females participate in that activity), but there are more sexually dimorphic species than you might think that can nevertheless befuddle observers.

Speaking of mockingbirds, both they and their close relatives, Brown Thrashers, are pretty vocal and active this time of year.  Unlike the mockingbirds, the thrashers aren’t singing right now (in the southeastern part of their range, they typically sing from March to May—and, in case you’re wondering, the females apparently do not sing), but they make their loud chak! calls on a regular basis as they forage in the dense thickets.  

 

Northern Mockingbird

Brown Thrasher

Both of these species, along with bluebirds, woodpeckers, and many others, will remain in this area through the winter.  Certain other birds, such as the Rose-breasted Grosbeak, show up here for only a very short time.  It’s the transitory nature of the season that can make it so simultaneously frustrating and exciting!

Blue Birds: Not Just Bluebirds

 Henry David Thoreau wrote that the bluebird “carries the sky on his back.”  Although this poetic description referred to the Eastern Bluebird, the meaning could just as easily be applied to two other commonly seen, predominately blue birds that are found throughout the southeast.  The trio of common “blue birds” in Mississippi includes the Indigo Bunting (Passerina cyanea), the Blue Grosbeak (Guiraca caerulea), and, of course, the familiar Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis). 

If any of these three birds has a claim to the distinction of carrying the sky in its plumage, it’s the Indigo Bunting—the male of this species can seem to change hues as quickly as the spring sky can fade from clear blue to a duller gray over the course of an afternoon.  Although any blue coloration present in feathers is the result of light reflecting off of the structure of the barbules, the Indigo Bunting’s appearance is especially changeable.  The reason for this is that the feathers are iridescent, catching different amounts of sunlight to appear any shade from blue-black to bright turquoise.  In contrast to the male, the female Indigo Bunting is a much subtler brown, with hints of blue in the wings; this more subdued coloration helps camouflage her at the nest, which is generally placed in a small tree or shrub.  In fact, thickets, woodland edges, and overgrown fields are the favorite environments of this sparrow-sized member of the cardinal family, and, like cardinals, it will come to backyard bird feeders for sunflower seeds and white millet.  Its relatively thick, stout bill aids it in cracking hard seeds, but, like many birds, it also feeds on insects.  During the spring and summer, the excited, up-and-down warbling song of the male bunting cues observers in on its presence—helpful, considering how difficult it can be to catch a glimpse of the vibrant blue bird when it is hidden in vegetation.

Singing male Indigo Bunting in the sunlight.

Male Indigo Bunting on an overcast day.

Female Indigo Bunting

The Indigo Bunting’s larger cousin, the Blue Grosbeak, lacks the eye-catching iridescence of the bunting, but it is also a stunning bird.  The plumage of the male grosbeak is a deep, royal blue with brown bars on the wings and a black “mask.”  For the same reason as the female Indigo Bunting, the female grosbeak is more cryptically colored: brownish gray, with a touch of gray-blue on the wings.  “Grosbeaks” are aptly named—their dark-colored, conical beaks are very stout and large, and point to their relationship with the well-known Northern Cardinal, which also has a large bill.  They can be found in the same habitats as the Indigo Bunting, but usually in much smaller numbers.  However, in spring and summer, it is not uncommon to see these striking birds helping themselves to feeder offerings, bringing delight to observers who realize that their backyard visitors are not simply oversized Indigo Buntings.  Once learned, the song of the Blue Grosbeak is quite different from that of the Indigo Bunting; it is a series of throaty, rolling warbles that befit this larger, less hyperactive bird.  Blue Grosbeaks may be less jumpy than their smaller cousins, but anyone who has seen the males battling for territory in the springtime, chasing each other through the underbrush, knows that they are far from lethargic!

Male Blue Grosbeak

Female Blue Grosbeak carrying nesting material!

Nearly everyone has heard of or seen the bluebird, known to some as the “bird of happiness.”   Unlike the other two “blue birds,” though, the Eastern Bluebird—washed with vibrant blue on the back—has a rust-colored breast fading into a white belly.  Female bluebirds have a similar pattern, but with more subdued coloring.  The contrasting palette of colors makes this species difficult to confuse with anything else, and the song—a short, lilting warble—is a familiar sound in rural areas.  Open woodlots, abandoned fields, and pastures all provide habitat for Eastern Bluebirds, which nest in rotting posts, snags, and the bluebird nest boxes constructed especially for them.  Bluebirds’ diet consists mostly of insects and berries that they find in their natural habitat, although they will also occasionally come to backyard feeders for suet, mealworms, and fruit.  Unlike the Indigo Bunting and Blue Grosbeak, the Eastern Bluebird is a member of the thrush family, which includes such familiar birds as the American Robin and Wood Thrush.  Because bluebirds—like robins—lack spots on their breasts, they do not greatly resemble thrushes at first glance; however, their slim, slightly curved bills, upright posture when perching, and tendency to flutter their wings all point to this relationship.  Interestingly, bluebird young look far more like their thrush relatives.  They have streaked and speckled brown plumage, with blue only in the wings and tail. 

Male Eastern Bluebird

As for seasonal occurrence, the Eastern Bluebird can be found year-round in the state, and the Blue Grosbeak and Indigo Bunting are present during the breeding season.  In a way, we are fortunate that these three “blue birds” are common and widespread across the southeast.  About thirty years ago, Eastern Bluebird populations were declining due to loss of nesting cavities and competition with invasive European Starlings and House Sparrows.  Concern over the bluebird’s plight led many people to construct nest boxes for them, which helped increase the population to a healthy level today.  The Blue Grosbeak is also doing fairly well—it has even expanded its range northward in recent years.  The Indigo Bunting is declining across many areas of its breeding range due to habitat changes, but it seems to be maintaining relatively healthy populations regardless of this fact.  Because it does not use heavily forested habitats, the bunting has fared better than many songbirds, but both it and the grosbeak are at risk from destruction of habitat on their wintering grounds in Central and South America.  Hopefully, measures taken to prevent habitat destruction in both North and South America will ensure that these three species of “blue birds” continue to thrive, bringing welcome touches of sky to the earthly environments that they inhabit.

Greater Roadrunners

I lived in Arkansas for several years, and one bird from that region that I sometimes find myself missing is the roadrunner.  Luckily, where I am now, I can still watch some of its close relatives, the Yellow-billed Cuckoos.  The following is a brief species account of the Greater Roadrunner.

The Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) is a large, ground-dwelling cuckoo (Order Cuculiformes) that occurs in North America, typically in deserts, shrubby habitats, and chaparral.  As a member of the Cuculiformes, the roadrunner has zygodactyl feet (i.e., two toes pointing forward, and two pointing backward), and, like many others of that group, it also has a proportionally long tail.  Its plumage is brown and streaked, and it has a crest and bluish skin around the eyes. 

Greater Roadrunners begin breeding in early spring.  Egg-laying occurs mainly during April and May, although some eggs have been found during mid-March.  Two broods may be produced per season.  Courtship includes the male singing a song composed of low, cooing notes, and drooping the wings and tail during a courtship dance.  The nest is usually placed about 3-15 feet from the ground in a low tree, thicket, or cactus clump, although nests are occasionally also built on the ground.  The nest, which is a foundation of sticks with leaves, grasses, feathers, roots, and other materials as lining, is about one foot in diameter and 6-8 inches high.  The clutch size is usually 3-6 eggs, which are ovate or elliptical, about 39.2 by 30.1 millimeters in size, and are white with a chalky, yellowish film.  Eggs are laid at long intervals, and both sexes begin incubating as soon as the first few eggs are deposited.  The incubation period lasts approximately 18 days, and the newly-hatched chicks are altricial with black skin and scattered white, hair-like plumes.  The young are cared for in the nest for about 2-3 ½ weeks, and adults may continue to provide care for young for over a month after fledging occurs. 

Roadrunners consume a variety of foods, including lizards, snakes, spiders, scorpions, insects, rodents, ground birds and their eggs and young, fruit, and seeds.  The diet is approximately 90 percent animal matter.  Roadrunners range from the southwestern United States south to central Mexico.  More specifically, the range is north to north-central California, southern Kansas, and Colorado; east to Kansas, central Oklahoma, Texas, Pueblo, and Tamaulipas; west to Jalisco and Baja California; and east to southwestern Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana.  They are nonmigratory, year-round residents in these areas. 

Greater Roadrunner

Sutton, G. M.  1940.  Roadrunner.  In A. C. Bent (Ed.), Life Histories of North American Cuckoos, Goatsuckers, Hummingbirds, and Their Allies: Orders Psittaciformes, Cuculiformes, Trogoniformes, Coraciiformes, Caprimulgiformes, and Micropodiiformes (pp. 36-50).  Washington: United States Government Printing Office.

Northern Cardinal Life Stages

Previously, I discussed the nesting process of Northern Cardinals.  But what happens to the young cardinals after they leave the nest?

At first, not much: Fledglings continue to be fed by their parents for at least a month as they learn how to function as adults.  They’re not that different from human teenagers, when you think about it.

In my long time as a birder, I have had many opportunities to witness “teenager” cardinals as they hang out with their parents.  One year, some of the cardinal parents brought their young to the backyard feeding station, allowing me to see them up close and to study their plumage patterns and behavior.

Juvenile cardinals have dark bills, unlike their parents, which have red or orange-red bills.  The color change is generally complete by winter.  In the photo below, you can see a little bit of orange beginning to come through on the base and margins of the juvenile cardinal’s beak.  Female and male cardinals look very similar in the juvenile stage, but males can have a hint of red on their flanks.  It can be hard to tell, though, and the photo doesn’t provide a lot of strong clues in either direction. 

Juvenile cardinal

This next photo shows a different bird—an immature male.  This cardinal probably came from an earlier brood than the last bird, and its molt into adult plumage has progressed much farther.  Look at the red blotches on the head, back, and flanks. 

Immature male cardinal

The first of the two photos below shows the young male bird from another angle, where you can see all of the red feathers that are coming in on the breast.  The bill has also turned almost completely red.  A bird that looks like this has probably been fending for himself for a while, but he won't be ready to compete with scrappy, aggressive, adult males, like the one in the second photo, until the next year.

Immature male cardinal -- not quite there yet

Adult male cardinal

Although both adult female and juvenile cardinals have reddish tails and flight feathers, adult female cardinals have red crests, as you can see in the first of the two photos below.  In about a year, female cardinals are ready to compete for territories and start nests.  Yes, they compete in much the same way that males do; research has shown that, on breeding territories, female cardinals chase away other females, and male cardinals chase other males.  Females also sing, if somewhat less frequently than males.  Juvenile cardinals might sing softer, unstructured versions of adult songs, as they are still learning.  They will consistently give whistled begging calls whenever they want food from their parents, though!  If you find some juvenile cardinals in the wild, watch for their wing-fluttering behavior and listen for those piping calls.

Adult female cardinal -- note the orange beak

Juvenile cardinals with gray beaks

As cardinals—both the adults and the juveniles/immatures—molt from one plumage to the next, sometimes they wind up looking a bit weird.  One of the most common “oddities” is when a cardinal loses most or all of the feathers on its head.  These cardinals can look as though they have a horrible disease, but, in most cases, they are perfectly normal and will have new feathers in due time.  The cardinal in the foreground of the next photo is an adult female with a bald, gray head. 

Once, there was a distinctive female cardinal that I routinely watched over a period of many days.  There was a clump of feathers sticking up on her back.  (This bird is actually the female cardinal in the fifth photograph of the post.)  Try as I might, I never could tell whether this was an injury or simply a scraggly patch from a recent molt.  The cardinal seemed to have no difficulty in foraging, flying, and generally moving around, so I didn’t worry about it, but it was certainly interesting to observe.

Ruffled feathers?

As you can probably tell, the wide variety of plumages that Northern Cardinals display during this season of the year makes it fairly easy—at least, for a brief window of time—to determine their age and to track some of them as individuals.  By next spring, some of this year’s juveniles will hold breeding territories of their own, and the cycle will continue.

Source:

Halkin, S. L. and S. U. Linville (2020). Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (A. F. Poole and F. B. Gill, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.norcar.01