Bird of the Month: White-throated Sparrow
“White morph” White-throated Sparrow. Photo by Jeff Bryant.
By Roger Digges, CCAS Vice-President
December’s bird of the month is one of the sweetest singers in the avian chorus. While Dark-eyed Juncos (November 2022’s bird of the month on this blog) may be the first “snowbird” to arrive from up north in your yard each fall, White-throated Sparrows may be the first you hear. Or, should I say, the first whose song you can easily recognize. Walking in a park or your neighborhood or your own backyard, you’ll hear a clear sweet whistle, starting on a single note, then descending in pitch to several repeated notes which some describe as “Sweet Canada, Canada, Canada,” but to me sounds like “Dee dee-dee-dee dee-dee-dee.” However you choose to remember the sound, you’ve just heard a White-throated Sparrow.
Like most of us, though, you’d like to see it as well. Sometimes these singers can be difficult to find as they like to forage in dense vegetation. But if you are quiet, still, and patient, and perhaps engage in what birders call “pishing” (a loud whispered “shpshpshp”) you’ll see one or more pop their heads out of the brush.
What do they look like? Well, it depends. White-throated sparrows are one of only a few songbirds who are polymorphic. To put it more simply, they come in two different colors—white crowned and tan crowned. White-crowned White-throated Sparrows are quite striking with stripes of black and white on top of their heads, yellow feathers above their beaks, and gray cheeks. The plumage of tan-crowned white- throats is more subdued with stripes of black and brown on top of their heads and brown cheeks. Both have the white throats from which they derive their name. What’s interesting about these two color morphs is that these birds usually mate with their opposite, white-and-black-headed birds with tan-and-black ones.
“Tan morph” White-throated Sparrow. Photo by Jeff Bryant.
We don’t see these birds during our warmer months. White-throated Sparrows spend their summers well to our north, from central Wisconsin to Hudson Bay and northwestern Canada. But as temperatures in their nesting grounds begin to plunge below freezing, White-throated Sparrows start migrating toward our area, the earliest migrants arriving as early as late September, and will stay until into May.
Where can you find them? White-throated Sparrows frequent city parks, forest preserves, and other natural areas that offer them woodland edges, dense vegetation, or thickets. Cathy and I often hear them on our early morning walks at Meadowbrook Park in Urbana, but they are commonly found throughout our area in the right habitat.
Because these birds are seed eaters, it’s relatively easy to attract them to your bird feeders, as long as there is suitable habitat. White-throated Sparrows especially like millet and black oil sunflower seeds. I try to keep some of our more densely crowded perennials up for them to hide in. They also will use thickets and brush piles, if you have a suitable place for one.
How are White-throated Sparrows doing? The good news is that there are about 160 million of these visually and aurally attractive birds in North America. The bad news is that this is about 80 million fewer than there were half a century ago. Unfortunately the decline of these birds is even worse in the United States, with 69% fewer White-throated Sparrows than there were 50 years ago. How can we help? You’re heard this song before, but it’s true: Protect habitat, particularly woodland edges and brushy thickets. Lighted buildings also kill White-throated Sparrows. Advocate for more bird friendly lighting and windows.