Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fox Sparrow musings - possible intergrade at Liddell?
Hey all, Thought I would chime in briefly about the Fox Sparrow. I agree that it is darker than the majority of the birds we get passing through the area. I don't think it is out of the range of variation for Red, although it could perhaps be indicative of a more western-breeding populations (zaboria). Either way, good observation by Dave and Gary, certainly worth studying out-of-season individuals even more carefully than we would normally do. Here are a few semi-obscured photos of the bird in question: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27121735 In a similar vein, Livia and I found what I believe to be an immature Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow with two leucophrys immatures in a tree sparrow flock along Park Road in Canoga, Seneca County, yesterday. Photos here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27204380 This is a rare but regular and undoubtedly overlooked vagrant in the east, something to keep an eye out for. Good birding, Jay On Mon, Jan 25, 2016 at 7:58 AM, Gary Kohlenberg <jg...@cornell.edu> wrote: > I'm glad Dave worked so hard to get this bird and make such detailed > notes, because I really struggled to call this one for eBird. Every Fox > Sparrow I've seen in the basin over the years has been an obvious Red > (Taiga) subspecies. Always so red that coloration is the first thing to > catch my eye in the underbrush, only then do I notice the size difference. > This bird was distinctly brown and rechecking Sibley he speaks of "a > confusing array of intergrades" so it certainly seems possible our visitor > is a little more than our typical migrant. There may be a dedicated sparrow > guide out there with photos of variations in Fox Sparrow that would be fun > to see, but I don't know of one. If anyone hasn't seen this bird it is > worth a look if for no other reason than to contrast with future sightings. > Gary > > -Original Message- > From: bounce-120080486-3493...@list.cornell.edu [mailto: > bounce-120080486-3493...@list.cornell.edu] On Behalf Of Dave Nutter > Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2016 8:37 PM > To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu> > Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Fox Sparrow musings - possible intergrade at > Liddell? > > To me, Fox Sparrows are a special challenge, even though they are big, > boldly colored, and easy to ID for a sparrow. We typically only see them > here during migration because they breed in the boreal forest across Canada > and they winter in the southeastern US. That narrows the time frame to see > them. Their prefered habitat is brushy woods where they hide pretty well, > and I don’t get to those places enough during that window. The folks who > have the best luck live next to such habitat and set up a bird feeder which > spills seed on the ground. There a Fox Sparrow will scratch as it eats, > sometimes becoming hidden in a small crater. I haven’t tried such a feeding > station in my yard, as it would be awkward to watch from the house. Perhaps > I should, because once I did see a Fox Sparrow in my yard. That was after a > heavy April snowfall. The bird was resting in my weed-filled vineyard, but > it was probably present because of my next-door neighbor’s feeding station, > which is annoyingly difficult for me to monitor. > > This year the opportunity to see a Fox Sparrow was greatly expanded when > Tom Schulenberg found one on New Year’s Day as part of the Christmas Bird > Count. It was near Freese Road in brushy habitat by the pond at the Liddell > Lab. Over the next few days several other people saw it, but I failed. That > lab has many beehives around it, but it also has a bird feeder next ot > brushy, damp habitat contiguous to woods. I have seen a Fox Sparrow at that > feeding station - in the usual season - several times over the years. > During the holiday break the feeder was empty, but afterward it was > maintained again, and people started finding Tom’s Fox Sparrow below the > feeder and in the immediately adjacent brush. This would make it much > easier to see, I thought. I tried again and failed. Then the long holiday > weekend came, the feeder was empty, and so was the adjacent brush. I went > back on the following Tuesday but the conditions remained the same: no > food, no birds. Perhaps the guy who works there and fills the feeder took > the whole week off! I went back early on Saturday and found the feeders and > bushes empty again. But this time I came equipped with a gallon jar full of > black oil sunflower seeds. I filled the dang feeder myself, kicked enough > snow off the ground that I’d be able to see the area from a distance, > poured some extra seed on the ground, and left for the rest of the morning > to let the local birds consider the situation. > > During the interval I went to the Lab of O feeder g
Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fox Sparrow musings - possible intergrade at Liddell?
Hi all, Talking about Fox Sparrow, there are several reports of Fox Sparrows in the Northeast. Mild winter to blame I guess. I have not looked at ebird distributions. Also several reports of Grey Catbirds too. At least some of them have gone where they are supposed to be i.e. in Yucatan. I took a 2+ mile walk along Six Mile Creek in beautiful afternoon. Nothing much except for a few Hairy woodpeckers and Chickadees. BTW, I had posted about a familiar call of a Mexican bird a few days ago. Now I know the bird. They were Collared Forest Falcons. It just clicked me yesterday that it was falcon, then on trying a few calls of different species, I came upon Forest Falcon! Cheers Meena Meena Haribal Ithaca NY 14850 42.429007,-76.47111 http://www.haribal.org/ http://meenaharibal.blogspot.com/ Ithaca area moths: https://plus.google.com/118047473426099383469/posts Dragonfly book sample pages: http://www.haribal.org/dragonflies/samplebook.pdf From: bounce-120111355-3493...@list.cornell.edu <bounce-120111355-3493...@list.cornell.edu> on behalf of Jay McGowan <jw...@cornell.edu> Sent: Sunday, January 31, 2016 8:17 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Fox Sparrow musings - possible intergrade at Liddell? Hey all, Thought I would chime in briefly about the Fox Sparrow. I agree that it is darker than the majority of the birds we get passing through the area. I don't think it is out of the range of variation for Red, although it could perhaps be indicative of a more western-breeding populations (zaboria). Either way, good observation by Dave and Gary, certainly worth studying out-of-season individuals even more carefully than we would normally do. Here are a few semi-obscured photos of the bird in question: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27121735 In a similar vein, Livia and I found what I believe to be an immature Gambel's White-crowned Sparrow with two leucophrys immatures in a tree sparrow flock along Park Road in Canoga, Seneca County, yesterday. Photos here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S27204380 This is a rare but regular and undoubtedly overlooked vagrant in the east, something to keep an eye out for. Good birding, Jay On Mon, Jan 25, 2016 at 7:58 AM, Gary Kohlenberg <jg...@cornell.edu<mailto:jg...@cornell.edu>> wrote: I'm glad Dave worked so hard to get this bird and make such detailed notes, because I really struggled to call this one for eBird. Every Fox Sparrow I've seen in the basin over the years has been an obvious Red (Taiga) subspecies. Always so red that coloration is the first thing to catch my eye in the underbrush, only then do I notice the size difference. This bird was distinctly brown and rechecking Sibley he speaks of "a confusing array of intergrades" so it certainly seems possible our visitor is a little more than our typical migrant. There may be a dedicated sparrow guide out there with photos of variations in Fox Sparrow that would be fun to see, but I don't know of one. If anyone hasn't seen this bird it is worth a look if for no other reason than to contrast with future sightings. Gary -Original Message- From: bounce-120080486-3493...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:bounce-120080486-3493...@list.cornell.edu> [mailto:bounce-120080486-3493...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:bounce-120080486-3493...@list.cornell.edu>] On Behalf Of Dave Nutter Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2016 8:37 PM To: CAYUGABIRDS-L <cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu<mailto:cayugabird...@list.cornell.edu>> Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Fox Sparrow musings - possible intergrade at Liddell? To me, Fox Sparrows are a special challenge, even though they are big, boldly colored, and easy to ID for a sparrow. We typically only see them here during migration because they breed in the boreal forest across Canada and they winter in the southeastern US. That narrows the time frame to see them. Their prefered habitat is brushy woods where they hide pretty well, and I don’t get to those places enough during that window. The folks who have the best luck live next to such habitat and set up a bird feeder which spills seed on the ground. There a Fox Sparrow will scratch as it eats, sometimes becoming hidden in a small crater. I haven’t tried such a feeding station in my yard, as it would be awkward to watch from the house. Perhaps I should, because once I did see a Fox Sparrow in my yard. That was after a heavy April snowfall. The bird was resting in my weed-filled vineyard, but it was probably present because of my next-door neighbor’s feeding station, which is annoyingly difficult for me to monitor. This year the opportunity to see a Fox Sparrow was greatly expanded when Tom Schulenberg found one on New Year’s Day as part of the Christmas Bird Count. It was near Freese Road in brushy habitat by the pond at the Liddell Lab. Over the next few days se
[cayugabirds-l] Fox Sparrow musings - possible intergrade at Liddell?
To me, Fox Sparrows are a special challenge, even though they are big, boldly colored, and easy to ID for a sparrow. We typically only see them here during migration because they breed in the boreal forest across Canada and they winter in the southeastern US. That narrows the time frame to see them. Their prefered habitat is brushy woods where they hide pretty well, and I don’t get to those places enough during that window. The folks who have the best luck live next to such habitat and set up a bird feeder which spills seed on the ground. There a Fox Sparrow will scratch as it eats, sometimes becoming hidden in a small crater. I haven’t tried such a feeding station in my yard, as it would be awkward to watch from the house. Perhaps I should, because once I did see a Fox Sparrow in my yard. That was after a heavy April snowfall. The bird was resting in my weed-filled vineyard, but it was probably present because of my next-door neighbor’s feeding station, which is annoyingly difficult for me to monitor. This year the opportunity to see a Fox Sparrow was greatly expanded when Tom Schulenberg found one on New Year’s Day as part of the Christmas Bird Count. It was near Freese Road in brushy habitat by the pond at the Liddell Lab. Over the next few days several other people saw it, but I failed. That lab has many beehives around it, but it also has a bird feeder next ot brushy, damp habitat contiguous to woods. I have seen a Fox Sparrow at that feeding station - in the usual season - several times over the years. During the holiday break the feeder was empty, but afterward it was maintained again, and people started finding Tom’s Fox Sparrow below the feeder and in the immediately adjacent brush. This would make it much easier to see, I thought. I tried again and failed. Then the long holiday weekend came, the feeder was empty, and so was the adjacent brush. I went back on the following Tuesday but the conditions remained the same: no food, no birds. Perhaps the guy who works there and fills the feeder took the whole week off! I went back early on Saturday and found the feeders and bushes empty again. But this time I came equipped with a gallon jar full of black oil sunflower seeds. I filled the dang feeder myself, kicked enough snow off the ground that I’d be able to see the area from a distance, poured some extra seed on the ground, and left for the rest of the morning to let the local birds consider the situation. During the interval I went to the Lab of O feeder garden and had wonderful views of another bird we typically only see in migration, a Rusty Blackbird, among numerous other birds. That’s a multi-trophic-level bird feeder, with an adult Sharp-shinned Hawk who had eaten a male Northern Cardinal the day before, the same day the Rusty Blackbird was discovered, but the Sharp-shin was not successful (yet) when I saw it. I think it made at least 3 passes while I was present. There was also an adult Cooper’s Hawk perched over the Wilson Trail North. It not only tolerated the members of the Saturday morning bird walk viewing it through my scope, it stayed put while we walked below it and than scoped it from the other side as well. Perhaps it is a year-round resident of Sapsucker Woods, and recognizes that the people on the trails harmless, so it’s a waste of a bird's time and energy to keep fleeing the people. There’s a Red-tailed Hawk like that at the Lab also, which tends to sit on lampposts around the parking lot. But I digress. I returned to Liddell and had great looks at the Fox Sparrow. I understand that several other people saw it as well that afternoon and today too. I now recommend that a large mouse-proof container of birdseed be added to every birder’s car kit, along with the field guide and binoculars. Some folks have tried setting up feeders in places like Summerhill State Forest. I first heard about Nelson’s Sparrow (then called Sharp-tailed Sparrow) at Treman State Marine Park when Jeff Wells saw one by putting out seed. I know that back in the day Arthur Allen kept feeders in Renwick Wildwood. As I drive around I see many empty bird feeders at people’s houses and I am tempted to fill them. Or it might be a nice gesture to donate birdseed to the people who maintain especially productive feeders. But about this out-of-season Fox Sparrow at the Liddell Lab. I noticed in Gary Kohlenberg’s eBird report that it was not as red as he expected. I, too, found that to be the case. Sibley shows the Red Fox Sparrow, which inhabits eastern North America as well as Canada and Alaska north and east of the Rockies, to have all bright rusty red streaks and spots below, including the malar stripes and the big central breast spot. Not so on this bird, whose central spot is dark brown and whose other spots and streaks form an interesting gradation from small dark brown spots low on the sides, to more chestnut brown farther up the sides to
