Interestingly, during the summer, the Black-Throated Sparrow doesn’t drink any water at all. This offers them plenty of open space to hunt insects on the wing during spring and summer and loads of ripe seeds to peck away at during the fall and winter. The Black-Throated Sparrow’s preferred habitat is desert scrubs and canyons. Those that do, however, will always return South for winter, sometimes setting up home as far down as Mexico. You’re most likely to spot a Black-Throated Sparrow in the Southern States, although some venture further North in the spring and summer. The rest of their body is pale gray, measuring around 5-inches in length with an average wingspan of 7-inches. With their distinctive, namesake black throat and bright-white eye stripe on either side of their gray head, the Black-Throated Sparrow is one of the easiest-to-recognize species in North America. These seem to be a particular favorite for this beautiful little bird. If you’d like to entice White-Crowned Sparrows into your backyard, make sure you fill your feeders and bird table with sunflower seeds. Interestingly, however, once they have left the nest, young White-Crowned Sparrows will spend around a week living on the ground before they learn how to fly. Once hatched, the couple will take turns feeding them, and they’ll be ready to fledge in around 9 days. Once built, the female White-Crowned Sparrow lays up to 7 eggs and spends two weeks incubating them. This nest is constructed from twigs, moss, pine needles, and grass. Here, they forage for grass, weed seeds, and fruits and berries such as blackberries and elderberries.Ĭharacteristic of most species of Sparrow, the White-Crowned Sparrow builds its nest either on or close to the ground. The best place to spot a White-Crowned Sparrow is in forest edges, weedy fields, and along the side of the road. The White-Crowned Sparrow spends the breeding season in Arctic Canada and Alaska before heading towards Southern States and Mexico for winter.ĭepending on the temperature, however, some may stay further North all year round. They also have a namesake white crown that runs vertically from the top of their beak to the top of their neck. The only exception is their wings, which are light brown feathers tipped with white. While most Sparrows are brown, the White-Crowned Sparrow sports gray feathers across most of its body. They’ll also do some cleaning for you, picking up any seeds that have been knocked onto the floor from bigger birds visiting your feeders! White-Crowned Sparrow Simply fill your feeders with a mixture of suet, nuts, sunflower seeds, or nyjer seeds, and they’ll turn up in no time. It’s pretty easy to attract American Tree Sparrows to your garden as they aren’t particularly fussy eaters. They also don’t spend very much time in the air or in trees, choosing to feed by foraging on the ground. This is why it’s not unusual to see up to 20 of these birds gathered together. The American Tree Sparrow lives in small flocks for safety and also feeds in this way. Once ready, the female American Tree Sparrow lays up to 6 eggs and spends around two weeks incubating them. This little bird constructs its nest either on or close to the ground and uses a mixture of grass, twigs, and moss to build and line it. The only place where you’re very unlikely to spot an American Tree Sparrow is the Gulf Coast and the Pacific Coast. They set up their winter nests in almost every State. It spends spring and summer in Canada for breeding and then heads South to the U.S for winter. While they are a common sight throughout North America, it may surprise you to learn that the American Tree Sparrow is a migratory bird to the United States. In terms of size, the American Tree Sparrow measures around 5.5-inches in length and has an average wingspan of 9-inches. It also has a rust-orange cap, gray face, and rust-orange line that runs horizontally across each eye. It has brown feathers all over its upper parts, which follow down to its long tail. The American Tree Sparrow is most likely the bird that comes to mind when somebody asks you to think of a Sparrow. Let’s start by looking at the most common species of Sparrow in North America. In the end, you’ll have a much better idea of what you’ve just seen and how to encourage them to your own home. We’ll explore each of their identifying features, look at where you’re most likely to find one, their diet, and talk about how to draw them into your garden. If you’ve recently spotted a bird in your local park or garden with a striped head and a Sparrow-like appearance, but you couldn’t quite figure out what it was, you’ve come to the right place.īelow, we’ll look at 6 species of Sparrow with striped heads. However, from this number, there are only 6 that have striped heads. There are 300 different Sparrow species worldwide, with 44 setting up homes across North America.
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