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Sunday, April 21, 2013
It snowed on Saturday and I think a lot of people were wondering if warm weather would ever arrive. Then Sunday morning I woke up to the song of the White-throated Sparrow. They have a high warble-like call that sounds like Oh-sweet-Canada-Canada or Old-Sam-Peabody-Peabody. I knew when I heard the white-throated singing that now it is spring! White-throated Sparrows only migrate through mid-Michigan in the spring and fall. You can look for them under the feeders from late April to late May and again sometime in September to November. They show up in mid-Michigan right after the last frost in the spring and right before the first snow in the fall. They breed all along the upper parts of Canada and winter along the southern United States.
White-throated Sparrows take off at dusk and fly all night when migrating. I just cleaned and filled all my feeders and assume they found my yard a suitable pit stop. A White-throated Sparrow is a medium sized sparrow with brown streaked back, plain gray belly, striped head and a conspicuous white throat and yellow spots between eyes and bill. Male and female adults are similar and come in two variations: some have a white and black striped head and some have a tan and dark brown striped head.
Interestingly, white-striped forms of these sparrows are more aggressive than their tan-striped peers, particularly during breeding season. In nonbreeding months, the birds are more peace-loving and gather in large flocks.
Watch the video at: http://youtu.be/sL_YJC1SjHE
Related Articles:
- Average dates for birds return to Michigan the in Spring? http://bit.ly/IMYNQe
- When is bird migration over? http://bit.ly/IMZ7OQ
- What birds migrate from Michigan? http://bit.ly/IMZsB3
- What to know about feeding birds in the spring http://bit.ly/I5s6h9
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