| "American Tree Sparrows are small, round-headed birds that often fluff out their feathers, making their plump bodies look even chubbier," said a post on Cornell Lab's All About Birds website, allaboutbirds.org. While round-headed, plump and chubby aren't necessarily flattering words, they are an accurate description of one of our area's winter visitors. The site also said, "a dark smudge in the center of the unstreaked breast is common." I had not noticed this smudge until a Facebook user commented on one of my posts to a Pennsylvania birding page. Now, I can see the smudge just about every time I glimpse the puffed up sparrows. |  |
As winter birds, they have frequented my feeder and yard for several years. I have photos from of the small winter birds from 2013 and beyond. This year there are three to four who visit somewhat regularly.
| "American Tree Sparrows breed in the far north and are rarely seen south of northern Canada in summer," All About Birds posted. Again I turned to the book "Birds of Venango County" by longtime area birder Gary Edwards for some local facts about this winter traveler. Edwards wrote that the uncommon winter resident arrives in early November and departs by early May. Edwards also penned that there is a period of time in the fall, as early arrivals of tree sparrows overlap with late departing chipping sparrows, where the two different types of birds can be mistaken for each other. He wrote that the tree sparrows "numbers fluctuate greatly from year to year." Meanwhile, I will enjoy viewing the three or four tree sparrows that visit for the winter in my yard, because one never knows if they will choose to visit next winter or not. |    |
That's just the nature of things 'round here.
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