House Sparrow

House Sparrow Passer Domesticus

     In recent years a decline in House Sparrow population was widely reported, but judging from the healthy numbers in our area the species seems to be recovering again. The male and female shown below were photographed in our back yard this morning.

White-throated Sparrow

White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis

29 April 2013

    We were very happy indeed to have this adult White-throated Sparrow, clad in all its nuptial finery, visit our back yard yesterday. It seems fitting that it first revealed its presence with its Sweet Canada Canada song. 

    Later in the day an immature bird arrived also and joined the adult feeding on the ground.

Who knows what may show up today?

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis

    Some of you may have read Alvan Buckley's recent musings about the different subspecies of Dark-eyed Junco, (see his blog, www.alvanbuckley.blogspot.com). This unusual individual was present in our yard today and was quite pale by comparison with the "normal"

hyemalis types we commonly see, and it was feeding in close proximity to both male and female/juveniles, so the contrast was easy to observe. I am not sure which race this bird represents. If anyone would like to hazard a guess feel free to do so.

Leucistic American Robin

Leucistic American Robin, Turdus migratorius

Waterloo, ON

7 April 2013

    Very near to our home my wife and I discovered this leucistic American Robin this afternoon. This is the third year in a row when we have found such an individual in the Lakeshore Village area where we live. Whether it is the same bird is open to debate. One would surmise that an oddly patterned bird such as this would be more vulnerable to predation and would not attain longevity. Whether it has bred and has produced normal, fertile offspring is open to question also. In any event, it's a very interesting bird to see.

Sharp-shinned Hawk Accipiter striatus

    The increase in the number of houses with bird feeders in recent years has led to a commensurate expansion of the wintering range of accipiters such as this juvenile Sharp-shinned Hawk seen in our back yard this morning. Our feeders, not surprisingly, were devoid of birds while this predator was present, but as soon as it flew off towards the Benjamin Park Trail normal activity resumed in minutes. It is not often that we spot these bird-eating specialists, no doubt due to their ability to stay hidden from view, rather than to any shortage of them in our neighbourhood.

Dark-eyed Junco

Dark-eyed Junco, Junco hyemalis

23 October 2011

Each fall we eagerly look forward to the arrival of Dark-eyed Juncos to our backyard, despite the fact that they are heralds of impending winter. This year we have been especially blessed to have at least a dozen of them regularly scratching through the leaves and mulch to find food, including bird seed which we strew everywhere. The birds are adept at finding it no matter how well concealed and it seems to minimize the competition from the ever-present squirrels.

This individual, whom we have named Stubby, has lost his tail in some earlier misadventure. Perhaps a predator was only able to seize the tail and was left with nothing more than a mouthful of feathers. In any event it seems not to present any serious impediment and Stubby is a welcome daily visitor.