Columnist Bruce Glick attempts each week to summarize happenings in the birding world. Emphasis is on the local Wayne/Holmes area. This week Bruce reports on a Chipping Sparrow and Pine Siskins in Holmes County. Find out more in the "Gone Birding" column.
Chipping Sparrow visits a feeder near Holmesville
A few months from now most of us will have Chipping Sparrows around our houses and feeders. However, in mid-January after a cold December, a Chipping Sparrow around here is indeed a rarity. Those of us who helped on the Millersburg Christmas Bird Count wish that this particular bird had chosen to show up just a bit further south - it has been hanging out about a quarter-mile outside the CBC circle!
I heard about this bird at the time of the CBC but didn't get out to see it until recently. Even though winter Chipping Sparrows have lost their bright summer colors, you can tell right away that it is a "Chippie". The bird is really small and even though it superficially resembles the American Tree Sparrows that it feeds with, the birds are quite different. For one thing there is no spot on the breast.
This bird seems to favor the ground under the feeders where it feeds on the food that is dropped from above. In fact I noticed that it often tilted its head and looked up as if waiting for more goodies to appear from above. At times the Chipping Sparrow would also fly up to the suet feeder but it never stayed long, always dropping back down to the ground below. Some of the other birds may have chased it at times but most of the time it was free to roam below the feeders.
A few miles to the south, on the outskirts of Millersburg, a small flock of Pine Siskins has been spending time at the attractive feeders of a couple who enjoy both photography and birds. I stopped in one morning and sure enough, the Siskins were right there, only a few feet from the living room windows. They were joined by American Goldfinches at the thistle feeders. None of the birds seemed to mind the attention we were giving them.
There have not been many Siskin reports this winter. These northern birds can be quite common or almost entirely absent during our Ohio winters. It's quite possible that some of them go unnoticed since they do resemble House Finches.
There have been some other exciting reports in our area. Rarest was the male Yellow-headed Blackbird that has been seen at least three times north and south of Apple Creek. I've spent a fair amount of time looking for it but have not been able to locate the flock of blackbirds that it hangs out with. The Harris's Sparrow is still being seen in the Apple Creek area. Good birding!
