Buntings and New World Sparrows

White-throated Sparrow - Barnston Island, BC During the 2022 Christmas Bird Count in Surrey we found two uncommon visitors to Vancouver. This adult white-throated sparrow and a bonus juvenile. They were hanging with some friends along the Avalon cow barn on the west of the island. It is a really good idea to search flocks of sparrows for rarities as they are typically in winter plumage and don't stand out right away. This flavor of sparrow is usually found north and east of the Rockies so was nice to add them to the list early. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com 2022
White-throated Sparrow - Barnston Island, BC
Yellow-eyed Junco - Rose Canyon Lake, AZ There are several types of Dark-eyed Junco's but there are only a very small amount of the yellow-eyed flavor. The first of the yellow-eyes are found in Mexico mostly with birds as far north as Tucson and as far south as Guatemala. The Bairds Junco is found on the tip of the Baja California, and the Volcano Junco is in Costa Rica. This particular bird had four young in tow and was frantically looking for food to keep all of the birds fed as it raced around the rocks checking every crevice. The bird and the babies were found on the shoreline of Rose Canyon Lake in the foothills of Mount Lemmon, Arizona. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Yellow-eyed Junco - Rose Canyon Lake, AZ
Savannah Sparrow - Boundary Bay, BC A sure sign of spring is the trilly voice of the Savannah sparrow coming from somewhere close to the ground or a fence post highest. One of the places that we see a good many of these sparrows is our coastal dunes or dykes. This bird was photographed on Boundary Bay, named for the US-Canadian border that runs through the middle of it. For the rest of the year, a quick glimpse is usually all you get while they check pathways and roadsides for seeds. Michael W Klotz 2022 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Savannah Sparrow - Boundary Bay, BC
Clay-colored Sparrow - Spanish Banks Beach, BC We occasionally get rare sparrows that stop by during migration. This little gray collared fellow was in late in the season, making himself comfortable with a mixed flock of Savanah's, Golden-crowned, White-crowned sparrows and Dark-eyed Junco down at Spanish Banks Beach. Clay-colored sparrows can be found in the eastern interior of BC, but rarely ever summer here in the Vancouver area. Most will head south to Mexico on the east side of the Rocky Mountains. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Clay-colored Sparrow - Spanish Banks Beach, BC
American Tree Sparrow - Surrey Lake, BC One of the smaller sparrows that visit for the winter here in Vancouver. This little guy is identified by the lightness of the overall bird with a rusty eyeline and crown, clean chest and the clean spot mid chest. This bird and a partner were found on a bird count for IBA (Important Bird Area) BC017 or Boundary Bay - Roberts Bank- Sturgeon Bank. They were down a bit of a dyke towards the Serpentine River. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
American Tree Sparrow - Surrey Lake, BC
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White-crowned Sparrow - Boundary Bay, BC
Lark Sparrow - Chopka, BC One of the hottest places in Canada is the road that leads to the Nighthawk Border Crossing from British Columbia to Washington State. Along this road you can find birds found no where else in the province due to its desert climate and sagebrush habitat. The Lark Sparrow is one of those birds that live in this very specific area. This was part of a pair busily collecting insects, mostly grasshoppers, for the young hidden away near a pile of granite boulders. Michael W Klotz 2021 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Lark Sparrow - Chopka, BC
Chipping Sparrow - Anarchist Mountain, BC East of Osoyoos the climb to the top of Anarchist Mountain is a steep and windy trek with the landscape and the birds changing quickly. The main draw is the fancy Williamson's Sapsucker at the top. We didn't get to see the mostly black bird, but there were plenty others including this Chipping Sparrow. These birds sound more like a grasshopper or cicada with the trilly high pitched song. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Chipping Sparrow - Anarchist Mountain, BC
Lark Bunting - Ballyneal Golf Club, CO A dramatic transformation happens in the fall for these birds. The Lark bunting in the breeding season is an exercise in contrast with the jet black body and white wing patches which is completely different from the fall, when the bird turns the color of the fields it feeds in and stays that way for the winter. The one give away for this bird is the white wing patch along the folded wing and a white throat. Lark bunting require windswept fields to nest in the summer and winter in along the US-Mexico border and midway down into central Mexico. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Lark Bunting - Ballyneal Golf Club, CO
Fox Sparrow - Reifel Bird Sanctuary One of the things I could never understand is why these birds were called Fox Sparrows. That is until I saw what the East coast birds looked like. Our west coast birds, like many other year round residents here are
Fox Sparrow - Reifel Bird Sanctuary, BC
Chipping Sparrow - Meadow Lake, BC These little guys were all over the place, but they are not usually great for having their picture taken. This particular bird was catching the morning sun, which seem more important to him than me and my camera. These sparrows sound more like crickets than birds which is a buzz rather than any note. This guy was on Meadow Lake Road just up from the lake. Michael W Klotz 2019 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Chipping Sparrow - Meadow Lake, BC
Savannah Sparrow - Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty, BC Long light, drift wood and a thoughtful Savannah Sparrow make for a good shot one spring evening along the ferry jetty out of Tsawwassen. We have these little yellow-browed sparrows year round along the coast but this was taken in April during migration for these guys. A good deal of grassland birds travel up the coast and find spits of land to refuel their stomachs on their way north. The Jetty is a great place to find unusual migrants. Michael W Klotz 2020 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Savannah Sparrow - Tsawwassen Ferry Jetty, BC
Clay-colored Sparrow - Kamloops, BC A very small member of the sparrow family is the Clay-colored Sparrow which a relatively dull appearance. These are birds of grasslands, field edges and meadows with this particular bird seen in the rolling hills above Kamloops, BC. This area is on the western part of their range with most birds living in the prairies of Canada in the summer. Michael W Klotz 2019 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Clay-colored Sparrow - Kamloops, BC
Vesper Sparrow - West Vancouver, BC This little bird is usually common to the plains and grasslands in the interior of the province, but during migration we will see them stop over for a day or two on the way south. The thing about this bird is that it stopped over on the coast in Ambleside park which is not so strange. The weird part is that it set up shop in a dog park. Every time a dog ran by, it found shelter in the longer grass and 2 minutes later would come out to eat. Michael W Klotz 2019 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Vesper Sparrow - West Vancouver, BC
California Towhee - Silverado, CA California Towhees are not a very colorful bird, but they are quite interesting to watch. They are very inquisitive and I remember when I lived in California there would be many times I would come out to my car to find the local checking himself out in the mirror. There are 8 species of towhee that are spread throughout North America, with two being endemic to Mexico and are found with in the sparrow family. I have found that they are usually found in pairs and low to the ground in dryer conditions. This bird was making its way around with a second in the dry river bed opposite the Silverado Community Center. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
California Towhee - Silverado, CA
White-crowned Sparrow - Stump Lake, BC A large flock of birds caught my eye at the end of Stump Lake in the Nicola area. They turned out to be yellow-headed black birds and a large number of White-crowned Sparrows picking at grain that had been spread around the edge of a pull out. One of the most interesting things I have found about photographing birds is that using the vehicle as a bird blind allows for some amazing opportunities. You would think a massive multi-ton piece of steel and rubber would scare a bird more than just a person on foot, but it is quite the opposite. If you are a photographer of birds and have never tried it, I recommend it highly. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
White-crowned Sparrow - Stump Lake, BC
White-throated Sparrow - Vancouver, BC Another relatively uncommon sparrow in Vancouver as taken up residence for the time being around the stone bridge at Stanley Park. There is a juvenile of the same species that is also here. This year has a huge influx of birds from north of the Rockies. It might have been the severe snow storm that showed up in Alberta at the beginning of the month that led to so many birds that head southeast for the winter to detour here. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
White-throated Sparrow - Vancouver, BC
American Tree Sparrow - Vancouver, BC A close encounter with an unlikely visiting sparrow today at The Museum of Anthropology at UBC. This small lightly colored sparrow has made this long patch of grass home for the time being. These birds usually spend the summer where the Boreal forests meet the tundra of the far north and then head south the northern states for the winter. It amazes me how these small birds winter the frigid cold winters of the prairies and come out none the worse for wear. Very interesting note about the American Tree Sparrow is that it rarely spends time in trees at all and prefers the grasslands or tundra to forests. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
American Tree Sparrow - Vancouver, BC
PictureA west coast version of the fox sparrow found with many others at Piper Spit at Burnaby Lake. I always wondered why they called these guys fox sparrows until I saw the east coast subspecies which can be fox red. Another interesting tid bit about these birds, is that they are easy to differentiate from the song sparrows but the arrowhead shapes on their chests versus just the stripes of the song sparrows.
Fox Sparrow - Burnaby
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Lark Sparrow - Langley, BC
While song sparrows are extremely easy to capture at least in most places here, I haven't taken a picture of one since I started taking bird photos in 2003. I wanted to have at least one for the archives. Our Pacific Northwest flavor is decidedly dusky, which matches the sky a good deal of the time. It would seem that there are several species that have this trait on the rainy side of the mountains like downy woodpeckers and of course dusky grouse.
Song Sparrow - Burnaby
Clay-colored Sparrow - Langley, BC Migration is on and we have had some interesting sparrows stop in the Fraser River Delta in the past month. This guy is no exception as he is typically not found near the coast. He was found by a friend of mine attending to the short grass in one of our backyard birding ponds, namely Brydon Lagoon here in Langley. I was commenting to the other birders that had shown me the sparrow when I showed up, that there mush be thousands of these rare birds that make their way through our backyards and we don't know it. They sometimes only stop for a couple of days to refuel and if they are as non-descript as this little guy, only a serious birder might take the time to have a second and third look. How many times might a Eurasian finch or sparrow make its way through with out a second glance. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Clay-colored Sparrow - Langley, BC
Vesper Sparrow - Burnaby, BC This sparrow is an unusual visitor from the Prairie Grasslands has decided to make a stop in the middle of Burnaby. The is type of bird is found hunting grasshoppers and beetles in the open country and had just hungrily devoured a caterpillar just minutes before this picture. In the winter Vesper sparrows switch to include a good many seeds as well. The very southern most states and Mexico is where this bird will choose a winter home after his quick fill up here among the houses and lawns of Burnaby. Michael Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Vesper Sparrow - Burnaby, BC
Dark-eyed Junco - Gila Hotsprings, NM This was near Gila Hot springs and closer to the cave dwellings. Wintering in the southern climates and headed back to the north soon enough. These juncos are very closely related to the rest of the different colored juncos around North America.. There is only one Junco that is not, called the Yellow-eyed Junco where the rest are called Dark-eyed Juncos. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Dark-eyed Junco - Gila Hotsprings, NM
These little guys are somewhat difficult to catch as they stay under cover most times and when they are up they dont stand around long. I caught just enough resting time on this fantastic perch to post my first ever look at this species.
Swamp Sparrow - Delta, BC
Harris' Sparrow - Vancouver, BC Migration is a great time of the year if you are a birder. There are variety of birds that show up that you don't see any other time of the year. This Harris' Sparrow is no exception, making a stop in Jericho Park at an apple tree with fruit to spare. This northern nester is usually on a straight path from northern Canada to the midwest states of Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas for the winter but we see the occasional bird here in the fall. Michael W Klotz - www.TheBirdBlogger.com Picture
Harris's Sparrow - Vancouver, BC
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Chipping Sparrow - Britton Creek, BC
Gray-headed Dark-eyed Junco - Santa Rita Lodge, AZ We have two flavors of Junco where I am from, the Slate-colored and Oregon. In Arizona there are a whole bunch more, including the other species called a Yellow-eyed Junco. This Gray-headed version of the Dark-eyed Junco is the closest you can come to the Yellow-eye species. It is almost identical in every way except, you guessed it, having yellow eyes. Here is a great article that talks about the different species and their ranges. Michael W Klotz 2006 - www.TheBirdBlogger.com
Gray-headed Dark-eyed Junco - Santa Rita Lodge, AZ
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Spotted Towhee - Langley, BC