Shanti
April 30th, 2007, 12:20 AM
The first featured critter I chose to match with the time of the year...spring!
This critter is becoming familiar everywhere right now as its spreads across the US, Alaska and Canada to begin its mating season. This little critter is native to these areas. It migrates every year from warmer territories in the south.
This little critter could be in your area right now.
Its often over looked as its small and quick.
What builds a nest so thin you can often see right through it?
The chipping Sparrow!
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5600pi.jpg
This is their range...
http://content.ornith.cornell.edu/UEWebApp/images/spiz_pass_AllAm_map.gif
Classification:
* Kingdom: Animalia
* Phylum: Chordata
* Class: Aves
* Order: Passeriformes
* Family: Emberizidae
* Genus: Spizella
* Species: S.passerina
* Binomial name: Spizella passerina AKA Chipping Sparrow
Description:
* Length: 4.75 inches
* Dark, conical bill
* Rusty crown
* White supercilium and black eyeline
* Gray face and underparts
* Tan back with dark streaks
* Brown wings with wing bars
* Gray rump
* Slim, forked tail
* Sexes similar
* Fall and Winter plumage has different head pattern: brown crown with fine dark streaks and pale median crown stripe, buff supercilium, pale bill with dark tip and brownish cheeks
* Juvenile plumage (Summer and Fall) similar to Winter but duller with streaked underparts
The Chipping Sparrow is a beautiful little bird.
It is often mistaken for these species,
The Field sparrow.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5630pi.jpg
The Tree sparrow.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5590p2.jpg
The Rufous-crowned sparrow.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5800p2.jpg
The Clay-colored sparrow.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5610pi.jpg
The Brewer's sparrow.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5620pi.jpg
One way to help Identify a bird is its song.
Chipping Sparrows Makes a chipping sound! :)
Here is the sound of a chipping sparrow just enjoying its day.
LINK (http://weaselhead.org/sounds/barb_beck/bb_chipping_sparrow_03.wav)
Here is the sound they make in flight.
LINK (http://weaselhead.org/sounds/ns_chipping_sparrow_in_flight.wav)
Here is their mating song.
LINK (http://weaselhead.org/sounds/ns_chipping_sparrow_spring_song.wav)
The Chipping Sparrow nest, as stated, is thin and a tad flimsy.
I once had one pair of chipping sparrows in my yard, that made such a flimsy nest, all the babies fell out after they were a few days old. The nest couldn't hold their weight. The bottom literally fell out. 2 died on impact and 2 we saved and later returned to the wild.
The Brown-headed Cowbird is a parasitic nester, meaning it lays its eggs in other birds nest.
Chipping Sparrow nest are one of the Brown-headed Cowbirds targets.
The Brown-headed Cowbird will lay one or more eggs in the nest.
Those babies hatch first, a day or more before the Chipping Sparrows.
This gives the Cowbird young a head start, making them bigger and stronger.
Not only does this make competition for food more difficult,
baby Cowbirds also push their rivals out of the nest, to their death.
The Parent Chipping Sparrow then raises the remaining Cowbirds as its own.
Here is a Chipping Sparrow nest. The Chipping Sparrow eggs are blue tinted and speckled.
The invading Cowbird is the hatched baby from the white speckled egg.
http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/cowbirdegg.jpg
The Chipping Sparrow is one of the smallest sparrows.
It is common in yards, gardens, parks, woods, brushy areas, weedy fields and farms.
They pair off for mating, building their nest low to med high.
The nest are in brush or pine trees and shrubs.
When built low, often inexperienced birds, they often fall prey to snakes, cats, and people.
If the nest is lost they rebuild to a higher elevation and face the risk of cowbirds.
Storms can take a great toll on their nest since they are not built strong.
The sexes look similar. The female being just a tad paler.
They east mostly seeds and some insects.
The young are fed insects.
Fun Facts:
The Chipping Sparrow changes their head pattern in fall and winter.
Chipping Sparrows are occasionally heard singing at night.
During the breeding season, the female develops a bare patch on her abdomen that fills with fluid. This allows more efficient transfer of heat to the eggs. This helps since the nest often provides little protection of invading cool air.
Chipping sparrows have been seen sparring with their own reflection in windows.
Instead of having simple molts like most birds and changing its body feathers once or twice a year, the Chipping Sparrow may change the feathers of its face and throat up to six times in one year.
The rest of the body has a normal molt in spring and fall.
They like lining their nest with hair. They used to pluck hairs off of horses, but with less horses available, and now that Chipping Sparrows have adapted to the back yard, they will pluck hairs off sleeping and unsuspecting dogs.
I hope you have enjoyed the Animal of the week, the Chipping Sparrow.
Anything, anyone wants to share..please feel free.
Stories, more info, folk lore, comments of all kinds are most welcome. :)
This critter is becoming familiar everywhere right now as its spreads across the US, Alaska and Canada to begin its mating season. This little critter is native to these areas. It migrates every year from warmer territories in the south.
This little critter could be in your area right now.
Its often over looked as its small and quick.
What builds a nest so thin you can often see right through it?
The chipping Sparrow!
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5600pi.jpg
This is their range...
http://content.ornith.cornell.edu/UEWebApp/images/spiz_pass_AllAm_map.gif
Classification:
* Kingdom: Animalia
* Phylum: Chordata
* Class: Aves
* Order: Passeriformes
* Family: Emberizidae
* Genus: Spizella
* Species: S.passerina
* Binomial name: Spizella passerina AKA Chipping Sparrow
Description:
* Length: 4.75 inches
* Dark, conical bill
* Rusty crown
* White supercilium and black eyeline
* Gray face and underparts
* Tan back with dark streaks
* Brown wings with wing bars
* Gray rump
* Slim, forked tail
* Sexes similar
* Fall and Winter plumage has different head pattern: brown crown with fine dark streaks and pale median crown stripe, buff supercilium, pale bill with dark tip and brownish cheeks
* Juvenile plumage (Summer and Fall) similar to Winter but duller with streaked underparts
The Chipping Sparrow is a beautiful little bird.
It is often mistaken for these species,
The Field sparrow.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5630pi.jpg
The Tree sparrow.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5590p2.jpg
The Rufous-crowned sparrow.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5800p2.jpg
The Clay-colored sparrow.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5610pi.jpg
The Brewer's sparrow.
http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/photo_htm/Images/h5620pi.jpg
One way to help Identify a bird is its song.
Chipping Sparrows Makes a chipping sound! :)
Here is the sound of a chipping sparrow just enjoying its day.
LINK (http://weaselhead.org/sounds/barb_beck/bb_chipping_sparrow_03.wav)
Here is the sound they make in flight.
LINK (http://weaselhead.org/sounds/ns_chipping_sparrow_in_flight.wav)
Here is their mating song.
LINK (http://weaselhead.org/sounds/ns_chipping_sparrow_spring_song.wav)
The Chipping Sparrow nest, as stated, is thin and a tad flimsy.
I once had one pair of chipping sparrows in my yard, that made such a flimsy nest, all the babies fell out after they were a few days old. The nest couldn't hold their weight. The bottom literally fell out. 2 died on impact and 2 we saved and later returned to the wild.
The Brown-headed Cowbird is a parasitic nester, meaning it lays its eggs in other birds nest.
Chipping Sparrow nest are one of the Brown-headed Cowbirds targets.
The Brown-headed Cowbird will lay one or more eggs in the nest.
Those babies hatch first, a day or more before the Chipping Sparrows.
This gives the Cowbird young a head start, making them bigger and stronger.
Not only does this make competition for food more difficult,
baby Cowbirds also push their rivals out of the nest, to their death.
The Parent Chipping Sparrow then raises the remaining Cowbirds as its own.
Here is a Chipping Sparrow nest. The Chipping Sparrow eggs are blue tinted and speckled.
The invading Cowbird is the hatched baby from the white speckled egg.
http://people.eku.edu/ritchisong/cowbirdegg.jpg
The Chipping Sparrow is one of the smallest sparrows.
It is common in yards, gardens, parks, woods, brushy areas, weedy fields and farms.
They pair off for mating, building their nest low to med high.
The nest are in brush or pine trees and shrubs.
When built low, often inexperienced birds, they often fall prey to snakes, cats, and people.
If the nest is lost they rebuild to a higher elevation and face the risk of cowbirds.
Storms can take a great toll on their nest since they are not built strong.
The sexes look similar. The female being just a tad paler.
They east mostly seeds and some insects.
The young are fed insects.
Fun Facts:
The Chipping Sparrow changes their head pattern in fall and winter.
Chipping Sparrows are occasionally heard singing at night.
During the breeding season, the female develops a bare patch on her abdomen that fills with fluid. This allows more efficient transfer of heat to the eggs. This helps since the nest often provides little protection of invading cool air.
Chipping sparrows have been seen sparring with their own reflection in windows.
Instead of having simple molts like most birds and changing its body feathers once or twice a year, the Chipping Sparrow may change the feathers of its face and throat up to six times in one year.
The rest of the body has a normal molt in spring and fall.
They like lining their nest with hair. They used to pluck hairs off of horses, but with less horses available, and now that Chipping Sparrows have adapted to the back yard, they will pluck hairs off sleeping and unsuspecting dogs.
I hope you have enjoyed the Animal of the week, the Chipping Sparrow.
Anything, anyone wants to share..please feel free.
Stories, more info, folk lore, comments of all kinds are most welcome. :)