See all posts in the Birds of Carver County series
Sparrows and Gulls – what could they possibly have in common?
Sparrows are brownish, hop around on the ground, and seem to like to eat seeds. Gulls are whitish, associated with water, and appear in Minnesota circling overhead, especially near landfills or tilled fields.
Among new birders, and those who are more casual than hard-core, identifying individual species within these groups sometimes seems a little too difficult. So, on their birding identification checklist, the boxes “Sparrow species” and “Gull species” are likely to get ticked.
In Carver County, we’re fortunate to have the more easily identifiable Chipping Sparrow (Spizella passerina). It is a common summer bird usually with a rufous crown, over a bright white stripe above the eye, and a dark stripe marking a line from the bill through the eye, to the back of its head, above a gray neck brightened by a white throat.
The adult has an unmarked gray breast and belly. The back and wings are brownish with two thin wing bars. Chipping Sparrows are about 4.5 inches long, with small conical black bills. During its non-breeding months (August – March) the bill gets lighter, and the body’s feather markings get duller. Males and females look the same. Its scientific name has Greek origins, meaning “finch-like sparrow.”
Like finches and other seed-eating birds, Chipping Sparrows breed in late summer, so their fledglings have the bounty available from the ripened seeds of meadow grasses and shrubs, and any of the many small insects that increase their number as the season progresses. Our residential tracts of landscaped trees and bushes also provide them with favorable habitats, and they will visit our tray feeders.
The just-out-of-the-nest sparrows will look different than adults. They will have streaks on their chests and will lack the strong white and black lines found on adult faces. “Chip, chip, chip” is a characteristic call from adults and young birds. Adults will also “sing” a long rattling trill.
Nest-building by females results in a small soft cup hidden in conifers or thick vegetation three to 10 feet off the ground. Historically, and in horse-country today, Chipping Sparrows favor horse-hair as construction material to line their nests. Dog hair provides an alternative, so it might be fun to observe a hair-gathering visit on a nearby retriever!
We can look forward to seeing Chipping Sparrows return to our yards and neighborhoods starting in late April and May. By the end of September, nesting will have finished, and the shorter days will signal to everything in the Northern Hemisphere that colder months are approaching.
Chipping Sparrows may form small flocks and cruise through open fields, sometimes with other sparrow species. Winter moves them to southern locations in the USA, Mexico and Caribbean.
With its rusty cap making it a sparrow that is fairly easy to identify; a common visitor to our feeders, fields and parks; the Chipping Sparrow is a living signature of the warm, bright days of summer in Carver County.
For more information:
- The Sibley Guide to Birds, David Allen Sibley
- Reader’s Digest Book of North American Birds
- Breeding Birds of Minnesota, Pfannmuller, Niemi and Green
- The Audubon Society’s Encyclopedia of North American Birds, John K. Terres
- Birds of the World, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Online: All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology LINK
- Online: Minnesota Seasons – Exploring Nature in Minnesota LINK
- Online: Minnesota Breeding Bird Atlas
