To birders, October means most of the colorful, migratory warblers have settled in, or are still heading someplace farther south for winter. Their primary food source, insects, is nearly gone in colder climates this time of year.
But October brings a bevy of migrating sparrows, which eat seeds, instead of the insect-eating warblers. Though painted in various browns and grays, sparrows often have beautiful colors that coincide with the autumn hues on trees and shrubs.
One of the most beloved is the white-throated sparrow, which spends several days or a week or more in our yard, as most of them head a bit farther south. This October, we have at least six white-throated sparrows hopping around in our low lying junipers, shrubs and beneath the feeders.
One day, I heard the soft autumn song of a white-throated sparrow. Its melancholy notes sound like, “Oh sweet Canada, Canada,” as if it is bidding adieu to its summer home.
In spring, the song is louder, and more insistent. In fall, it’s subtle and lovely. It’s likely a sparrow born this summer trying out its melodic repertoire for the first time.
If you’re new to the world of birds or of sparrows, the white-throated is one species you should try to see this time of year. Though some of them are drabber in the fall, you can always find one with its chalky, white throat and just a dash of bright yellow above and between the eye and bill.
Sit quietly in your yard and look and listen in places where there are shrubs near trees. as well as spent blooms loaded with seeds.
Roughly 31 species of sparrows migrate through Illinois in fall and winter, with some remaining to nest and others only here for the winter, while others are merely vagrants that have landed in the wrong place. One October day, we saw 17 species of sparrows at Chicago’s Montrose Harbor.
House sparrows, the noisy, gregarious birds that hang out in the city and suburbs, are considered Old World sparrows, native to Eurasia, and are only distantly related to the New World sparrows that we have in North America. They don’t count when you’re documenting sparrow species in northern Illinois.
An uncommon migrant sparrow in Illinois, though more common in the Great Plains states, is the Harris’s sparrow. Two of them have been hanging around Waukegan Beach for at least a week, showing off a palate of colors, including a rich, puffy face and dark head and black throat, complemented by an orange bill.
We saw handsome birds cavorting with several white-crowned sparrows, another migrant species, along a fencerow near sumacs wearing their bright red autumn attire and maples glowing yellow and orange.
As the autumn winds blew, the sparrows darted into tall grassy strips finding little nuggets to eat. A lone monarch butterfly flew overhead. Several juncos, often called snowbirds, flitted around as well. Juncos have white bellies, blackish backs, black bibs and pink bills. They visit suburban yards in winter, and they also belong to the sparrow family.
One lovely, difficult-to-find sparrow that shows up in late October and early November is the LeConte’s sparrow, which has a pumpkin-colored face, to match the pumpkin-colored leaves of the Ohio buckeye. I likely see one of these only once every few years, and it takes some persistence, and scouting and hiking in wet meadows, to find one.
The hardiest sparrow, the American tree sparrow, is back in northern Illinois for the winter. This delicately painted sparrow with rich, reddish-brown wings and softer reddish-brown wash to the flanks, has a rufous cap and eye line on a pearly gray face. It has a black and yellow bi-colored bill, and a single blackish dot in the middle of its white lower breast and belly.
While visiting Illinois Beach State Park, we heard their tinkling call notes that sound like tiny icicles gently bumping into one another. It’s as if the tree sparrow, which breeds on the tundra in the summer, brings the sound of winter with them when they arrive in northern Illinois. A group of about 14 flew out of the shrubs to another hiding place, wheeling in the still warmish autumn air.
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The juncos winter with us as well, and if we’re lucky, a few white-throated sparrows might remain in our yard as long as they can find something to eat. Last year, two beautiful fox sparrows, with rich, reddish-brown and gray plumage, spent winter in our yard.
While most warblers are long gone, sparrows provide some color and hope as the leaves break away from branches and tumble to the ground.
Sheryl DeVore has worked as a full-time and freelance reporter, editor and photographer for the baiduhai and its subsidiaries. She’s the author of several books on nature and the environment. Send story ideas and thoughts to [email protected].