This post concludes “The Sparrows of Treaty Hill.” I’m sure there are more sparrows to be found but I’ve not seen any new sparrow species in over a week so am assuming I’ve now photographed all of the “regulars.” Thirteen species is not bad at all for a relatively short period of time.
In the murky light of dawn I often find a rather pudgy looking sparrow skulking in the Bear Grass. It occasionally darts out for some seed and eventually to drink and bathe in the bird bath. If it is alarmed it runs rather than flies for cover. The most prominent features of this unmistakable sparrow are the rufous cap, large white eye ring, short wings, longish rounded tail and gray eye-stripe. The Rufous-crowned Sparrow (Amophila ruficeps) is a year-round resident of southeastern Arizona.
Rufous-crowned Sparrow (Amophila ruficeps)
Rufous-crowned Sparrow (Amophila ruficeps)
One of the larger sparrow species and another with unmistakable markings is the White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys). They have showy black and white head stripes, a yellow-orange bill and gray breast. They also have a lovely song which can be heard even on their wintering grounds.
First-winter birds (below) resemble adults except they have a rusty brown color on their heads where the adults are black and gray where adults are white. This species migrates to Arizona for the winter.
On October 27 a single Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis) visited the feeding station and hasn’t been seen since. I thought this was the first arrival and the pack would follow but this hasn’t been the case. It remains to be seen if a junco flock will overwinter near Treaty Hill.
November 18th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Many thanks for a fabulous sparrow tutorial, Arlene. I look forward to the arrival of new species almost as much as you do!