Chirps and Cheeps

A Photo Journal of My Birding Adventures & Observations

My birding blog site


  I'm All About White-throated Sparrows

Published: April 25, 2011
Tags: Life List Happenings, White-throated sparrow, Western New York, bird list, whistle, feeders, blue bird, mealworms

I belong to a very active bird email list that's full of lively conversations from many friendly people in the Western New York area. They report bird sightings, how to make a blue bird house, where to find mealworms, and many other interesting topics .  I've often heard sightings of the White-throated Sparrow.  I went to a few local birding hot spots to see one of these cuties, but to no avail - until a few days ago.

I saw an unfamiliar bird out in the back rummaging around on the ground under the feeder that hangs from our huge pine tree.  I knew it was a sparrow, but until I enlarged the photos on my computer, was I able to identify it as a White-throated Sparrow.  Those distinctive stripes surrounded by yellow on the top of its head made it easy. Cool!  And now, we've got many (well, 4 - 5 at a time!) coming around to all the feeders and poking around in the surrounding shrubbery.

Did you know there are two color forms of White-throated Sparrows: white-crowned and tan-crowned. These sparrows almost always mate the opposite color form - males of both color forms prefer females with white stripes and both kinds of females prefer males with tan-stripes.  Go figure!

The photos below are a few that I've captured over the past few days.  And today, they were everywhere. Their sweet, clear whistles are now very familiar to me and I think I could identity that sound anywhere!  I love this little guy!

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White-throated Sparrow

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White-throated Sparrow

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White-throated Sparrow

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White-throated Sparrow

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You can really see his white throat in this shot

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White-throated Sparrow

Reply from: Marge on 4/27/2011 7:54 PM
 What a beauty! How lucky to have these beautiful birds in your yard. I have never seen this sparrow. Wonderful!
Reply from: Lynn on 4/28/2011 7:46 AM
 I can see why you love these little guys. They are very cute and their white throats are a nice identifier. How fortunate you are to have such a wide variety of birds come to your feeders. I appreciate your tips and statistics on the different birds, too.


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