Outdoors: White-crowned sparrows arrive right on schedule

The orioles are gone now and as we slip into the mellow days of fall the nectar feeder hanging just outside my office window seems less exciting as only hummingbirds are buzzing about.

But movement at the nearby seed feeder caught my eye, and suddenly everything seemed right.

The white-crowned sparrows have arrived, right on time.

These long-distance migrants are prompt with a reputation for their punctuality. Instead of dribbling in, they tend to migrate as a flock, arriving here the third week of September from their summer range that extends to the arctic fringes of North America.

In the past six years I have recorded their arrival here at Mt. Hoo on either Sept. 20 or 21 each year.

A quick check with the bird-tracking program ebird.org and it looks like these beautiful sparrows with the crisp black-and-white crown are now being seen throughout the region.

Soon, they will be one of the most common winter visitors, with a range that extends from coastal gardens to the arid sands of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park.

While they will eagerly flock to your seed feeders, this is a bird that also enjoys foraging in native grasses, weed fields, coastal sage, chaparral forests, woodland fringes and desert scrub.

The white-crowned sparrow tends to feed in flocks, so their arrival at your seed feeder is hard to miss.

These are cheerful and animated little birds, slightly larger than a song sparrow, measuring about 6 inches in body length and a wingspan of about 9 inches.

The most distinctive features are the bold black-and-white bands across the head and through the eyes, but the yellow beak and the unspotted gray breast are easy ways to confidently identify this dapper bird.

Here’s an interesting note. The white-crowned sparrows found along the Pacific Coast typically have yellow bills, and those found in the northern areas of Alaska to Hudson Bay in Canada have orange bills. Birds of the same species in eastern portions of North America have pink bills.

You may also see juveniles at your feeders, and instead of the bold black-and-white head stripes, the crown feathers will be a rusty brown.

If you are closely monitoring your garden feeders, you may also spot a golden-crowned sparrow, a related species to the white-crowns, but arriving a bit later in early October.

The summer breeding and winter non-breeding ranges of the golden-crowned sparrow are confined to a narrow band of western North America, from Alaska to northern Baja California.

As its name implies, instead of the broad, black-and-white stripes on the head, the golden-crowned sparrow sports a bright yellow-gold patch between two black stripes.

Winter populations of this bird are more concentrated at higher elevations of the county and in north-facing and shadier canyons of San Diego County’s inland valleys, but if you provide a consistent source of bird seed, you may be lucky enough to spot one occasionally.

Both species of sparrows return to their more northern summer breeding habitats starting in late April.

Unlike the nectar feeding hummingbird or orioles, or insect feeders, white-crowned and golden-crowned sparrows will eagerly accept wild bird seed blends.

I was surprised when some readers emailed recently telling me they don’t see many seed eaters because they don’t put out feeders due to the mess they cause.

While bird fountains will attract seed feeding birds, providing a wild bird seed mix will be far more effective.

For those bird lovers concerned about the mess of seed hulls on sidewalks or patios, you might consider using no-mess brands that are free of shells, husks and hulls.

Since all of the waste is removed, that means anything spilled from the feeders is cleaned up by ground birds, such as dove, quail and towhees.

This seed is a bit more expensive, but it also tends to attract more birds since there are some species that cannot eat seeds with shells.

If your feeders are hung over garden areas or shrubbery, a more traditional and less expensive wildbird seed mix with hulls is a good choice.

Thankfully, San Diego’s mild winter climate attracts some interesting birds that can keep you actively looking for them until spring brings our summer visitors.

In addition to the two species of sparrows, look for yellow-rumped warblers to appear in local gardens soon. They are not seed eaters but will flock to garden plants to hunt for caterpillars, beetles, ants, spiders and craneflies.

A number of shorebirds migrate here to our local beaches and bays, and white pelicans can often be found on coastal lagoons and inland lakes during winter months.

Upcoming event

Wildlife Photography will be the topic of my presentation to the North County Photographic Society at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Carlsbad Senior Center, 799 Pine Ave., Carlsbad.

Cowan is a freelance columnist. Email ernie@packtrain.com or visit erniecowan.substack.com.