February 13th, 2014

These days when I arrive at Blair in the morning, I find the tree sparrows foraging among yesterday’s leftovers at the feeders.  The American tree sparrow is a winter visitor to southern Ontario, returning to the far north to nest in spring.  The highest concentration of nesting records in the province is along the shore of Hudson Bay from the Manitoba border to Polar Bear Provincial Park.

In winter tree sparrows feed on the seeds of grasses and weeds – at our feeders their preference is for  millet.  They must take in 30% of their body weight in food every day to survive and can store up to 1,000 small seeds in their crop to digest later.

Sparrows sometimes go unappreciated as they are not the most colorful crayon in the box.  I happen to think they are quite a handsome little bird, though, and I look forward to their arrival here each winter.  Look for a rusty red cap and a black dot in the middle of the chest.

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