Outdoor Ontario
Birding Reports => Backyard Birding => Topic started by: Cody on May 12, 2010, 07:05:51 PM
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10 Minutes ago, I just had my first ever White-Crowned Sparrow at my feeders! The bird is very shy, and the Grackles dont help. The bird is just flying around, it is not eating yet, but if it sticks around for the night and morning, then I should be albe to get it to come to the feeders.Also while I am typing this I have a Chipping Sparrow eating 2 metres from me.
I figure that it is migrating, and it was coming in the area to roost for the night ahead of tomorrows storm. I also think that I will be very lucky to see it again, since it will probably be gone early tomorrow.
I have had a great spring, compared to the awful winter I had. I have mad some major changes to my feeders to prevent the awful winter I had from ever happening again. My winter consisted of House Sparrows and Mourning Doves in very few numbers (100 birds total in a week).
The bird is still around, I hear it calling from a nearby tree outside of my backyard.
Is this bird late migrating?
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My white throated sparrows appear to have gone but the white crowned have been here for about a week (I'm in the Bayview-Steeles area). This is also the first year I've seen them and I hope they hang around for a while but I suspect they will be gone by next week. More info here:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whit ... ifehistory (http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-crowned_Sparrow/lifehistory)
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My spring records for white-crowned sparrows for the backyard (High Park, Toronto) range from April 26 (2004) to May 12 (2006), in case that helps determine if yours is a late migrant. (I only record the first sighting of the season.)
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I saw 3 White-crowned sparrows in my back yard this morning - first of the season - eating nyger seeds and whatever else dropped from feeders to the ground. Last year I only ever saw one in our Forsythia bush and that was in June - he must have decided to hang around.
We also had several White-throated sparrows last week. I also saw some yellow-rumped warblers in our Oak tree and a Baltimore Oriole in another Oak a couple of blocks away. Leslie ... FYI ... we have house sparrows and a robins nesting in the backyard cedars. Also a pair of Cardinals visit regularly , which I think are nesting in my neighbours yard.
The other birds are: cowbirds, grackles, Blue Jays, Finches, American Gold finches , RWBBs, Chickadees, Mourning doves, Downey and Redbellied Woodpeckers and Starlings.
I'm hoping that an Indigo Bunting and Hummers will be along soon. Last year I saw a hummer at the feeder April 30th ... nothing yet !! Maybe it's been too cold.
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At least one white crowned sparrow is still around, feeding at the base of my feeder; also saw my first hummingbird of the season today feeding on lilacs. I'm in the Bayview-Steeles area btw.
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Just going by recollection (versus notes), The White-crowned are couple of weeks behind the White-throated in arrival, peak and eventual departure. By the middle of May, most to the White-throated have moved on and the White-crowned are probably past peak.
That's in Toronto and south. You don't have to go far north to find White-throated Sparrows breeding. If you want to find White-crowned Sparrows breeding, you probably can't get there by road: they go way north.
BB