![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/FoxSparrowTulgyonNaturalCrooksDotCom.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nOk that\u2019s an exaggeration. Still Fox Sparrows do have a noticeably rusty tail. They also have a funny grey cap and collar kind-of look. (Western Fox Sparrows have quite different colouring: I\u2019m describing the Eastern ones.) They like to rummage through the leaves for food and don\u2019t mind making noise while they kick leaf litter away. The one I\u2019m including here was taking it easy though and eating seeds that had fallen from a feeder at the Beamer Conservation Area.<\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Look at the great feet for flicking leaves!<\/em><\/p>\n Fox Sparrows generally don\u2019t nest in southern Ontario so we get to see them as they migrate through.<\/p>\n Yes, these are our friends the White Throated Sparrows that we saw flitting through the forests in the autumn as they worked there way south<\/strong><\/a>. Now they\u2019re back on the move heading north. I guess like some Canadians these birds just love to travel.<\/p>\n They\u2019re also the ones with the call that you hear and think of old nature shows on TV where they paddle a canoe up a stream in spring time watching beavers repairing their dam. If you\u2019d like to hear what I mean, you can click on the link at the Cornell University website: the Phee-Wee-Wee-Wee song I\u2019m used to is the second Song recording on the site<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n The next common spring sparrow of southern Ontario is my personal pitfall. It is well adapted to so many environments that I\u2019m constantly surprising one in a new spot.<\/p>\n And this is a closeup! It’s exasperating to finally get a good glimpse and realize it’s yet another Song Sparrow!<\/em><\/p>\n So far this spring, I\u2019ve seen them poking and prying into cracks and crevices way up on big tree branches like a thrush or nuthatch.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve seen them skulking deep in the swamp among the reeds and grasses allowing only a momentary glimpse of their plumage.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve been flitting among stumps and dense litter with their tails cocked as if they were oversized wrens.<\/p>\n They cheerfully peck and poke on the lawn grasses.<\/p>\n They glean insects from the shrubberies like the gnatcatchers.<\/p>\n And everywhere when I look more closely, I see the pattern of grey and rusty red marks on their faces and see a series of thick streaks on their fronts that often coalesces into a black dot.<\/p>\n Their song, as memorable as the White Throated Sparrows but in a more common summer-long way, is the cause of their name: Song Sparrow. They perch in a noticeable spot and belt it out frequently. I don\u2019t find the recording at the Cornell site to sound that much like our local birds (it was recorded in Oregon) so I don\u2019t have a ready link to provide you with.<\/p>\n It\u2019s easy to believe you\u2019re looking at yet another sparrow when you see a brownish bird streaked with stripes foraging through the bulrushes and cattails at the swamp. If you see it next to a brown cattail, though, you\u2019ll realize it\u2019s much too large to be a sparrow. This imposter is a Red Winged Blackbird. A female RWBB to be exact.<\/p>\n One interesting thing I had not known till recently was that female blackbirds of \u201can advanced age\u201d can also start to sport the red shoulder epaulette that makes the males so noticeable in the spring. For good photos of this, you can scroll down at the McGill Bird Observatory website<\/strong><\/a> to the photos of an after-second-year female.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yes, this is a male not an old female!<\/em><\/p>\n My children and I are still waiting on the arrival of one of our favourite spring sparrows.<\/p>\n They are due back any day and they nest in our neighbourhood brightening up our morning walks with their curiosity and sparkling eyes.<\/p>\n These Chipping Sparrows are quite tiny noticeably smaller than the House Sparrows (which are actually an alien species) that live around here year round. Chipping\u00a0 Sparrows have a cute rusty cap and often nest in the trees the city has planted along the boulevard. Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n Join In<\/strong> While the Warblers are waiting for warmer weather, the sturdy sparrows are already spreading through our swamps and forests as they forage their way North. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,11],"tags":[25,260,259,251,258],"class_list":["post-2582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focus","category-rambles","tag-birds","tag-fox-sparrows","tag-red-winged-blackbirds","tag-song-sparrows","tag-white-throated-sparrows"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2582"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8350,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2582\/revisions\/8350"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a><\/p>\nHaven\u2019t We Seen These White Striped, Plain Grey Chested, Yellow Eye-browed Sparrows Before?<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Sparrow Most Likely to be Mistaken for Something More Interesting<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nWhen a Sparrow is Way Too Big It\u2019s An Imposter<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\nWaiting on One of Our Favourite Sparrows of Spring<\/h2>\n
\nThey should be back any day now. We\u2019re looking for them!<\/p>\n\n
\nDo you have any sparrows that you watch for each spring? Please share your favourites with a comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"