It's winter again, time for hot cocoa, visiting family for the holidays, wearing fuzzy socks, and cute sparrows! Though several sparrows can be seen in the area year-round, a number of them are cold-weather visitors. Something extra nice about sparrows, is that since they are seed-eaters, they are very eager to visit bird feeders. And if you find sparrows to be slightly boring 'little brown birds' that all look the same, I'm hoping this blog will change your mind!
Male House Sparrow at The Woodlands on a snowy January day. (Photo by Toribird)
If you live in an urban area, you likely have House Sparrows all around you, all year long! They are native to the Old World, widespread across most of Asia and Europe. They were first introduced to the US in the mid-1800s, and now are invasive pests over most of the Americas. Though they are a challenge for native wildlife, I must admit I find them rather pretty, and their babies are so cute in the summer! The males are distinctive, with black on the chin and around the eyes, grey on top of the head, a wide brown 'swoosh' behind the eye, and an unmarked grey belly. See if you can spot those markings in the picture!
A dapper winter visitor is the Dark-eyed Junco. You might know it by the colloquial name 'Snowbird'. The ones on the east coast are quite different from other sparrows with a slate-gray back, snow-white belly, and cute pink bill. There are actually 15 different races of Dark-eyed Junco, 6 of which are easily recognizable. In fact, 5 of these races were considered separate species until the 1980s!
Dark-eyed Junco at The Woodlands (Photo by Toribird).
White-throated Sparrow at The Woodlands (Photo by Toribird).
Another species with its winter home in Philly is the White-throated Sparrow. Well named, they do have white throats. You can also ID them by the yellow spots in front of their eyes and "racing stripes" on their heads. I particularly like these guys since they whistle out their song even in the coldest months of the year, when little else is singing. White-throats have two color forms, the bright ones with pure white 'eyebrows' (pictured), and a browner variety with muddy-tan eyebrows. This variation is regardless of age or sex. Fascinatingly, a breeding White-throat couple will always consist of one white-striped bird and one tan-striped one.
I hope I've gotten you excited for some winter birding. Hopefully, you’ll see the sparrows mentioned in the blog, as well as woodpeckers, robins, and maybe a hawk or two while birding at The Woodlands during the winter.
Written by: Toribird