Chipping Sparrow

Normally the only sparrows I see in my yard are the common House Sparrow variety. Once in awhile in the winter a Harris Sparrow will show up. Yesterday that changed with the appearance of the "Chipping Sparrow"(Spizella passerina). This adorable little sparrow landed in the birdbath right in front of me, my presence scared him witless, as you can see in the second photo where he looks like a ghost. He gathered himself and perched on the side of the bird bath for a photo. These little birds are similar to other sparrows, they are about 4.75 inches in length and have a rusty colored crown and black eyeline. Males and females are very similarly marked. True to their name this little guy kept yelling "chip chip chip" at me. I assume he wanted me removed from the area so he could go about drinking some water.

Harris Sparrow

What a lovely little bird, when most of us think of sparrows we think of the not so lovely or welcome "house sparrow" The one who is responsible for raiding nesting boxes and taking away shelters from our native birds, and the ones who swoop down to relieve themselves of their dinner on top our clean cars. Let me assure this wonderful little Sparrow would never degrade himself in such a manner. He is a gentlemen among paupers. Even his feathers give him a noble appearance, much like the lord of the manner. He appears in Northwest Missouri for a short period of time through the winter months, then he heads back north to his breeding grounds in Canada. He towers over most sparrows, at 7 inches in length. This picture was taken in November in a fence row on the backside of our property. They tend to be very secretive, sometimes spotted at feeders, usually walking on the ground gleaning whatever seeds they can find. Watch for this wonderful little sparrow, and see if you too aren't impressed.