White-crowned Sparrows Migrating
White-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys) breed north of New England and overwinter south of New England. The only time we get to admire their elegant plumage is during migration, primarily in May and October.
White-crowned Sparrows are strong migrators (A migrating White-crowned Sparrow was once tracked moving 300 miles in a single night.) but they do have to stop and refuel along the way. Because they are now passing through New England, you may see what at first might appear to be a White-throated Sparrow, but is a White-crowned Sparrow. Their bold black-and-white striped crowns are one quick way to tell one species from another. (Immature birds have brown and gray stripes.) Look for them foraging in weeds along the roadside or in overgrown fields. About 93% of their diet is plant material, 74% of which is weed seeds.
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Wild Bird Seed
Humans have a long history of feeding birds. As early as 1500 BC Hindus provided birds (as well as dogs, insects, “wandering outcasts” and “beings of invisible worlds”) with rice cakes. In 1825 one of the first bird feeders was constructed out of a modified cattle trough. Bird feeding grew in popularity in the 1900’s and by 2019 roughly 60 million people in the U.S. were feeding birds, spending more than $4 billion annually on bird food. Bird feeding has become such a common practice that many people may wonder how seed-eating birds survived long, cold winters before humans fed them.
In fact, birds do very well without a helping hand from humans. A large number of winter bird species in the Northeast, especially sparrows and finches, are seedeaters (granivorous) and there are multiple wild sources of food for these birds, many found along roadsides and in fields. These plants, called weeds by some, are known for the copious amounts of seeds they produce. Ragweed, Pigweed, Bindweed, Thistle and Smartweed are some of the plants that are popular with seed-eating birds. Some of the more familiar flowering plants such as Sulphur (or Rough-fruited) Cinquefoil, Mullein, St. John’s Wort, Black-eyed Susan, Evening Primrose, Queen Anne’s Lace, Yarrow and Goldenrod also feed a host of birds with their bounteous seed crops.
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Sedge Seeds
Over 500 species of sedges in the genus Carex are found in the U.S. – over half of the world’s total. The great majority of these perennial, grass-like plants grow in the moist soil of meadows, marshes and bogs, as well as in high altitudes. Sedges are often distinguished from grasses by their stem, which is typically triangular in cross-section (“sedges have edges”). The flowers of sedges, each surrounded by a bottle-shaped bract, or modified leaf called a perigynium, are clustered on spikelets. The tips of these bracts persist after the seeds have formed, giving the spikelets a prickly appearance.
Because of their wide availability, the seeds are eaten by many kinds of wildlife, especially birds. Wild Turkeys, American Woodcock, Northern Cardinals, Horned Larks, Snow Buntings, Lapland Longspurs, ducks, rails, sparrows, redpolls and finches relish them. In the Northeast, Carex seeds, along with insects, are the most regular items in the diet of Ruffed Grouse chicks. Moose also occasionally feed on sedge seeds. (Photo: Longhair or Bottlebrush Sedge, Carex comosa)
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Bobolinks Fledging and Preparing to Migrate
Between their striking black and white plumage and their long, bubbly song, male Bobolinks are hard to miss if they are inhabiting a field. The female’s plumage is more subtle, with lots of browns so that she blends in well when on her ground nest. The Bobolink’s most notable accomplishment is its annual migration between breeding (northern U.S. and southern Canada) and wintering (northern Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia) grounds — a round-trip distance of approximately 12,500 miles. According to Cornell’s Birds of North America Online, one female Bobolink known to be at least nine years old presumably made this trip annually, which would mean that in her lifetime she flew a distance equal to traveling 4.5 times around the earth at the equator.
Grassland birds such as Bobolinks, Eastern Meadowlarks, Upland Sandpipers and numerous sparrows, which have been in decline for decades, populate New England’s hay fields, meadows, and pastures. Many of these birds build their nests on the ground, raise young, and forage for insects and grains in summer months. If you own or manage a hayfield that hosts Bobolinks (or any other grassland species), consider delaying mowing until after mid- July to allow these birds the opportunity to fledge their young and get them ready for one of the longest migratory flights of any North American songbird. (Photo: male Bobolink on rock, female on grass.) (Thanks to Jeannie Killam and Terry Ross for photo op.)
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Winter Visitors – American Tree Sparrows
You might guess from their name (both common and scientific) that American Tree Sparrows (Spizella arborea) inhabit wooded areas, but, in fact, you are much more likely to see them in small flocks on the ground in habitats more like their tundra breeding grounds — weedy fields, marshes and hedgerows. European settlers thought they resembled the Eurasian Tree Sparrow, and named them accordingly, but they are far different birds. They forage, feed and nest on the ground.
American Tree Sparrows do not breed in New England – they are strictly winter visitors and feed primarily on seeds and berries. They need to take in about 30 percent of their body weight in food and a similar percentage in water each day. Often they are observed scratching the ground for seeds, and occasionally beating their wings against grass seedheads in order to knock the grass seeds onto the ground where they quickly consume them. Look for American Tree Sparrows foraging beneath bird feeders during the winter months — come spring, they will disappear. (late edit: a photograph of a Swamp Sparrow accompanies this post. Although there is similarity in the appearance of Swamp Sparrows and American Tree Sparrows, this blogger should have taken more time when selecting the photograph for this post!)
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White-throated Sparrows and Winged Euonymus
Although the breeding and winter ranges of White-throated Sparrows overlap, most, if not all, populations are migratory. During their flight southward in the fall, White-throated Sparrows stop during the day to refuel on seeds, fruits and insects, if available. Winged Euonymus (Euonymus alatus), or Burning Bush, is an invasive shrub that, in addition to shading and crowding out native plants, produces vast quantities of capsules, each containing up to four seeds. White-throated Sparrows and many other bird species find these bright red seeds attractive, but unfortunately, they are of little nutritional value to the birds and other wildlife that feed on them. How ironic that these birds, whose health and migratory success may be compromised by the seeds of this invasive plant, are facilitating its establishment by dispersing its seeds.
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