Chipping Sparrow: Species of the Week

This is part of an ongoing series, Species of the Week, and is cross-posted at The Clade as Biodiversions.  It’s also included in “I and the Bird” #105. 

A number of small, brown songbirds have enlivened my spring and early summer on a daily basis. One is the chipping sparrow (Spizella passerina).  It’s a fairly common bird throughout North America.   A pair nested in a ponderosa pine by my garden gate.   I passed them several times a day and grew used to their routines of nest-building, brooding, and feeding.   Now the young have fledged, and I miss them.

Chipping sparrow on deer fence. Flora, Oregon

In the breeding season, both males and females have the rufous cap and a black line through the eye.  I could only guess at which was which by their activities.  The females do most of the egg incubating while the male feeds her.

I was surprised by how close the female allowed me to approach her when she was on the nest.  Perhaps she believed herself invisible behind fronds of long needles or perhaps stillness was her best defense when being eyed by a large omnivore.

We recently found another nest (it got a much later start) in a three foot tall ponderosa pine near where we park our cars and tractor.   With cows rubbing against young pines to scratch their necks, my partner Jerry built a small fence around the tree to protect her (he’s a real softy that way).

Hatchlings

Other observers confirm how well the birds deal with the bustle of human activity. Here’s a delightful description from Forbush in 1929 (as cited by William DeMott Stull):

“The Chipping Sparrow is the little brown-capped pensioner of the dooryard and lawn, that comes about farmhouse doors to glean crumbs shaken from the tablecloth by thrifty housewives. It is the most domestic of all the sparrows. It approaches the dwellings of man with quiet confidence and frequently builds its nest and rears its young in the clustering vines of porch or veranda under the noses of the human tenants.”

The chipping sparrow is one of those species that may have expanded its range following European settlement in North America.  The birds favor clearings made by felling forests and cultivating fields.  However, in some areas in more recent times, chipping sparrow populations, like those of other songbirds, have been declining.  Some blame cowbird parasitism (where cowbirds place their own eggs in the nests of other species).  I have not observed that activity on our property.  Audubon research urges caution on scapegoating cowbirds for all songbird declines.  Some species in certain areas may have successful nesting seasons even with a bit of cowbird activity but face more critical threats from habitat destruction and other complex causes.

Moments before flying

I had never thought much about how much little birds, like chipping sparrows, eat.   Chipping sparrows are omnivores but the percentage of arthropods in the diet increases during the breeding and nesting season.  It makes sense: protein needs are higher and many bugs are available.

Update:  Here are some pictures of the newer nest.

For more information:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology

Birdweb

Familar Birds

Wikipedia