Fox Sparrow
By mid-October sparrows are moving through our region in good numbers. Breeding residents such as Chipping Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Song Sparrow and Field Sparrow are just getting ready to leave, while winter residents such as American Tree Sparrow and Dark-eyed Junco are just beginning to arrive. Other species, such as the White-crowned Sparrow and Fox Sparrow which spend neither the summer nor winter here, are now passing through. White-throated Sparrows are also found in large numbers this time of year, although any remaining summer residents have been joined by numerous individuals from the north on their way to their winter grounds. It is a marvelous time of year to look for mixed flocks in scrubby fields and forest edges; sometimes you might get lucky and find something completely unexpected!
I had a great opportunity to see six species at Jack Pine Trail on Friday, October 16th. When I arrived a number of small birds were feeding on the ground near the feeder (which has not been filled yet). There were at least two Fox Sparrows among them, so I spent some time quietly watching as more and more sparrows came out of the woods to feed on the seed on the ground. I was not surprised that most of them appeared to be juncos.
Dark-eyed Junco
I was surprised that there were good numbers of other species present too. I saw a pair of American Tree Sparrows, a Song Sparrow, and a couple of White-crowned Sparrows, including both adults and juveniles. The adults have a crisp black and white striped head, while the juveniles have a rust and beige striped head that helps them blend in with the fall foliage.
White-crowned Sparrow
A few White-throated Sparrows were taking advantage of the bounty, too. Unlike the White-crowned Sparrows, juveniles cannot be distinguished from adults. However, they do come in two colour morphs which are often mistaken for differences in sex. Each sex can be either colour morph – often referred to as tan-striped and white-striped morphs – and individuals almost always mate with a bird of the opposite morph. Interestingly, females with white stripes are preferred by both males, but tan-striped males are preferred by both females. Because white-striped females are more aggressive than tan-striped ones, the tan-striped females are often left to mate with white-striped males. Below is a white-striped individual, sex unknown – note the bold black and white stripes on top of the head and the noticeably white throat. Tan-striped individuals have a brown and tan striped head and less noticeable white throat.
White-throated Sparrow
There were at least four White-crowned and at least six White-throated Sparrows in the clearing near the feeder, though only the latter stayed out in the open long enough to get some photos. Of the two colour morphs, the white-striped sparrows are my favourites, as their bold colours make them easy to identify with even a poor or fleeting look.
White-throated Sparrow
However, of all the forest sparrows the Fox Sparrows are my favourite. Large and chunky, their bright rusty colours make them stand out from all other sparrow species. Their breast is white with a messy pattern of red chevrons, and they have a rusty red cheek that contrasts with their wide gray supercilium and nape. They are less likely to come to bird feeders in open suburban areas (such as mine), although they may show up in heavily treed yards with dense brush.
Fox Sparrow
Fox Sparrows also come in different colour morphs, although the red morph is the only one found in the east. The “Sooty” Fox Sparrow found along the Pacific Coast is much browner in tone, and some individuals show no trace of red. Further south, the “Thick-billed” Fox Sparrow of the California and Oregon mountains has a thick, finch-like bill, a gray head and back, and brown wings and tail. The chevrons on its breast are dark brown. The final colour morph, the “Slate-coloured” Fox Sparrow of the interior west, appears to be a mixture of the eastern Red morph and western thick-billed morph. Its wings and tail are bright red while the head and back are gray. I don’t know if I’d recognize a Fox Sparrow without its characteristic red colouration; however, the messy chevrons on its breast are present in all forms and should help separate it from other spotted sparrows.
Fox Sparrow
I took a long walk along the outermost loop and found a few more White-crowned Sparrows, Song Sparrows and Dark-eyed Juncos, bringing the total number of individuals up to at least forty. I also heard what sounded like an Eastern Towhee’s “to-whee” call at the back of the fourth loop. However, there was enough traffic noise from the highway that the sound was not perfectly clear – it could have been the “waaay” of a Hermit Thrush which is the more likely of the two. A steady stream of robins and Red-winged Blackbirds flew south while I was there, and I heard two Pine Siskins fly over. One Ruby-crowned Kinglet was still present, as was a late Gray Catbird – it was calling vigorously near bird feeder, and responded when I called back. I thought I might see a Swamp Sparrow to add to the six species already seen, but I didn’t hear or see a single one. Later that day, however, I had a White-crowned Sparrow and three Dark-eyed Juncos in my backyard and a Chipping Sparrow in my front tree.
I returned to Jack Pine Trail the following day to see if I could track down the Hermit Thrush or towhee I’d heard along the fourth loop but it was silent, if it was even still there. However, the number of sparrows had almost doubled. I didn’t find any Song or American Tree Sparrows, but at least 50 juncos, twelve White-throated Sparrows, three White-crowned Sparrows, and five Fox Sparrows were present.
Fox Sparrow
The sparrow bonanza continued the following day. A trip to Sarsaparilla Trail yielded one American Tree Sparrow, one Song Sparrow, two Fox Sparrows, and about 25 juncos and White-throated Sparrows feeding on the seed on the ground. From there I headed over to Steeple Hill Park, which amazed me with a long, continuous river of robins streaming south. More than 100 flew over in multiple flocks, and I came across more feeding on the berries and grapes in the tangles there. A small number of sparrows were foraging for seeds in the fields, including a couple of juncos, Fox Sparrows and a single White-throated Sparrow. In the large weedy field behind the graveyard I found two Song Sparrows.
Weedy Field near Steeple Hill Park
Then, I saw a couple of birds fly in, and when I tracked them down I was surprised when I heard their sweet-sounding chip notes. They didn’t sound like any sparrow I was familiar with; and while I always thought the American Tree Sparrow had the sweetest call note of any sparrow, this was even sweeter than that. I started pishing, and when I saw two Field Sparrows pop up out of the goldenrod I was thrilled as they showed up as “rare” on my eBird checklist. Except for surprise encounters such as those along the Shirley’s Bay shoreline back on October 4th, I don’t usually don’t come across these sparrows once breeding season ends and they stop singing, so I am not familiar with when they usually migrate south. From eBird, it looks like observations drop off sharply after the second week of October, although sightings can continue into November.
Field Sparrow
On October 19th I saw my last Chipping Sparrow, a winter-plumage bird underneath the feeder in my backyard. Instead of a bright red cap its head was dull brown. Interestingly, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet was out back the same day. The kinglet was still around the following day, this time out front, and the following day I heard a Golden-crowned Kinglet calling in my neighbour’s pine tree. The Chipping Sparrow was long gone by then, but a few juncos were still around.
Since then the number of breeding sparrows seen on my walks have slowly declined while the number of American Tree Sparrows and juncos have fluctuated as more individuals move into (and then move out of) the area. Interestingly, I had a personal high of Fox Sparrows at the Beaver Trail on October 22nd when I counted 11 of them – I suspect more were present. I came across two different flocks in the woods and boardwalk area and had two additional individuals in the small meadow.
American Tree Sparrows are not usually backyard birds for me the way the juncos are. They prefer brushy areas adjacent to swamps and woodland edges. The Beaver Trail is usually a good spot to see them, as are places like Trail Road and Shirley’s Bay. This one was photographed at Sarsaparilla Trail looking for seeds near the boardwalk.
American Tree Sparrow
That same day (November 9th) I also found a Swamp Sparrow in the same area, also pecking at the seeds on the ground. This species also came up as rare on eBird; however, the following day I found two in the marsh at Old Quarry Trail! Like the Chipping Sparrow, the Swamp Sparrow loses its bright red head during the winter, but retains the rusty feathers on its wings.
Swamp Sparrow
Watching the sparrows feeding on the trails is one of my favourite activities during fall migration after the more colourful warblers have gone. Unlike warblers, they tend to spend more time out in the open, and forage on or close to the ground. If you stand quietly for a while, they will take no notice of you and eventually move closer. Although many people think of them as drab and confusingly similar, they each have their own unique colours and patterns – and even personalities – once you get to know them.
The Pathless Wood 