Mysterious sparrow

As a birder, is there anything that scares you more than a sparrow? Sure, gulls are tough to identify, but it's easy to say, "It's just a seagull" and quickly look away.

Shorebirds are pretty scary, too, but they are easy to avoid by simply staying home in the late summer and fall when most of the "interesting" birds are packing up and leaving. And both gulls and shorebirds can be ignored by simply removing their somewhat specialized habitat preferences from your trip agenda for the day.

Sparrows, however, are everywhere, in virtually all habitats, and at all times of the year. How are you going to avoid them? They have to be included in Christmas bird counts.

They will likely be encountered on spring trips while looking for migrants. They will be nesting in the area. They may even be at the backyard feeder!

And, just as with the gulls and the shorebirds, there can be so many species to choose from, they can be a nightmare to identify. So, what could be more frightening than the unavoidable, unidentifiable sparrow?

We certainly have plenty of them in northern Idaho and eastern Washington. There are 16 species with sparrow in the name (not including the house sparrow which is actually not a "sparrow" but a weaver finch introduced into North America from Europe more than 150 years ago) that one could find within the Spokane County-Kootenai County region in the course of a year.

There are more than 50 species in the sparrow family in the United States and Canada, not all of which have to be so intimidating, however. There are spotted towhees, dark-eyed juncos, Lapland longspurs and snow buntings in our area, but at least these do not have sparrow in their name, and they do not superficially resemble our 16 troublemakers.

Why do I call them troublemakers? If you have to ask, you haven't spent much time looking beyond the fact that some birds appear, at first glance, to be identifiable only to LBBJ (Little Bitty Brown Jobber).

Or, of course, you may be so good at identification that you no longer understand the fear that a lone sparrow-like bird can inspire; in which case you probably get so bored in the field that you have either given up the hobby altogether, or you have moved on to tackling immature winter gulls in gale force winds.

What makes these birds so tough to identify? Well, in going through most of the popular field guides you will find the general description of a sparrow to go something like "brown and streaked," or more specifically generally drab brownish and mostly streaked. We have 16 species that are best described as sharing nondescript feather patterns that are the color of dirt.

Besides this, their behavior is described as secretive and their lifestyle as ground-dwelling. Some guides just begin with the very telling statement that sparrows are hard to see and hard to identify and are often confused with other groups. For example, pine siskins and female finches are not in the sparrow group, but they too are brown and streaked.

So, if you are a stickler for accuracy in your bird lists, and you like to look as if you know what you are doing in the field, what's not to dislike in this group? They live on the ground in grassy or reedy areas. They spook easily - fly a short distance, but quite rapidly - and then drop back out of sight. They are generally streaky, are uniformly brown, and, of course, they are small.

All of this is in the words of the experts, the field guide authors. The words most often used by birders to describe sparrows include frustrating, confusing, and difficult. I have used other words too, but would rather not list them here.

Now, if you think that I am here to clear all this frustration, confusion, and difficulty up, you are mistaken. Besides all the general field guides that attempt to solve the problems of sparrow identification, there is a book called A Guide to the Identification and Natural History of the Sparrows of the United States and Canada by James D. Rising.

This book is 365 pages long and contains 27 color plates, and deals solely with 62 sparrow species. That's roughly 6 pages per species. There is a lot to be said!

Thus, there is no simple solution. But the task does not need to be so daunting if we break our local sparrows into groups by season, by habitat, and by abundance. Then when we go into the field we will only need to concentrate on several species at a time, and the task actually becomes manageable, even fun.

First of all, four of the 16 sparrows are rare and will only be encountered by accident in our area. These are the swamp, white- throated, golden-crowned, and Harris's sparrows. If you are not into rare, out of range species, ignore them.

Another five species are difficult to find unless you know specifically when and where to look. The American tree sparrow is around in the winter, but scarce.

Clay-colored, Brewer's, lark, and grasshopper sparrows are all known to breed in the area, but only in isolated pockets. They are especially scarce in Kootenai County (Brewer's has never, as far as I am aware, been identified in North Idaho). You'll need some help to even get a chance to struggle with these.

There are two species that are particularly common and actually pretty easy to distinguish by both appearance and by song. The song sparrow is a year-round resident, is always conspicuous, is always singing its unique song, and has a distinctive breast "stick-pin" pattern.

The Savannah sparrow breeds in our grassland areas, tends to fly from the ground to an exposed perch when startled, and has distinctive yellow eyebrows, called the lores. Savannahs arrive early and leave late, and form into flocks when not breeding.

That leaves five species as our biggest challenges. These sparrows are here every year, but not necessarily in obvious numbers. If looking for them, one must get quite specific in terms of habitat and time of year. If one encounters these species by chance, habitat and season will again narrow the possibilities.

White-crowned sparrows are usually seen in the spring and fall as they pass through our area. Fall juveniles can be confusing (that word again) since they are more brown-and-tan-crowned.

Chipping sparrows breed at high elevations, are very vocal and conspicuous and have a nice rufous crown. Fox sparrows are found in wooded areas, are big for sparrows and tend to be more secretive than song sparrows, the species whose picture they most closely resemble.

The vesper sparrow is a paler version of the Savannah, has chestnut wing patches (that in reality are hard to see), are often found in the same areas with Savannahs, but they like to perch higher, they have distinctive white outer edges to their tails, and they have a unique song.

Finally, there is the Lincoln's sparrow. It is not distinctive in appearance, really, and it seems most like a small, thin song sparrow. But they breed at higher elevations, in wet, boggy areas where they are likely to be the only sparrow. They like heavy brush and generally remain inconspicuous. And most telling, their song is very different from the song of the song sparrow.

So, ready for a new challenge? No need to flee from all those sparrows. Just break down the possibilities by likelihood in that area, during that season. Then there's not so many to choose among. Halloween is just around the corner, and that's scary enough without being afraid of all those LBBJ's.

This sidebar appeared with the story:

BIRDING Q&A

My mother-in-law is an avid bird watcher, and I think she would really enjoy one of the books you mentioned in your article Sept. 25. Can you suggest a good book on the origins of bird names?

Thanks!

Debbie

Indeed it can be great fun and good reading to explore bird trivia. There are three books that I would recommend. All have titles that are quite self explanatory: "100 Birds and How They Got Their Names," Diana Wells, 2002; "Dictionary of American Bird Names," Ernest A. Choate, revised 1985; "10,001 Titillating Tidbits of Avian Trivia," Frank S. Todd, 1994.

If you have trouble locating any of these, let me know - they are all currently available.

I enjoy your bird column very much. I bought a National Geographic bird book a few years ago and try and identify all the birds I see. We moved here two years ago, living off of Indian Trail. When we first moved here I saw a small black bird, about the size of a robin, beautiful glossy black feathers, pointed yellow beak. It seemed to be eating bugs in the grass. I haven't noticed it around again but have wondered what it is. The column on blackbirds today reminded me of it.

Thank you

Susan

As I have mentioned in articles before, I enjoy the challenge of these identification questions. The bird you describe is almost certainly a European Starling. Summer and winter birds have a dangerous looking yellow beak, which is more blackbird-like in the fall. Starlings and blackbirds often hang around together and are often mistaken for each other.

I read your column in the paper and find it very entertaining. I have a question about two similar but different bird behaviors that my wife and I have observed in our backyard viewing.

The first is by robins, primarily, but have also observed some sparrows.

They settle into a pocket of dusty soil, spread their wings about halfway and then seem to waddle in the pocket as if trying to cover themselves with the dust. Friends have said that this is a "dust bath" but no one seems to have any idea what the purpose is.

Secondly, we have observed a behavior of some juvenile robins, sparrows and house finches that the younger bird will go to an older bird, male or female, spread their wings slightly and quiver. The older bird may or may not pay any attention to the younger bird. Is this a form of begging?

Thank you for your column.

Walt Jones

These are good behavioral questions.

The "dust bath" that you describe is just that - a bath. Most bird species bathe in water, some bathe in both water and dust, and ground- dwelling species in particular, such as quail and pheasants, bathe almost exclusively in dust. Dust bathing performs many of the same functions in feather and skin care as does water and can help remove materials such as oils and parasites that could mat or damage the feathers.

The behavior you describe in young birds is begging. It is the form of begging that these birds use to elicit food or other types of attention from the parents. In some bird species, this can also be a part of their mating ritual.

I enjoy your columns and look forward to reading them each month. The article on the Brewer's blackbird, however, surprised me. I have always considered these blackbirds as pests that rob other birds of nesting sites and take over at the feeders. Are they, in fact, a detriment to other species?

John Sahlin

Thank you for your comments. I think that the bird you are actually seeing that does take over bird houses and feeders is the European Starling. This species is commonly seen associated with flocks of feeding Brewer's Blackbirds in the fall. Starlings are an introduced species and are often considered a pest. Starlings have been implicated in the decline in a number of other species, particularly for their competition in securing nest sites. They are often seen at larger bird houses or in tree cavities.

Brewer's Blackbirds, on the other hand, do not nest in boxes or cavities, and are usually not closely associated with human habitations at nesting time. They do not compete unfavorably with other species. If you think that you have a blackbird problem in your yard, take a closer look and I bet you'll find that actually you are playing host to starlings.

Thanks for your observations and questions.

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