A couple of not so common Sparrows

By Al Lowe
Contributor

Here are two sparrows which breed all across the Northwest. Birders often have some difficulty telling sparrows apart, but these two aren’t too hard, especially in the spring, when they are all decked out in their very best.
The Vesper Sparrow (Poocetes gramineus) is an easy one when it flies. It has white tail feathers. The outer two or three feathers on the tail are pure white, and are very conspicuous when the bird flies. The Junco is the only other sparrow - like bird which is marked in this way, and it is just plain grey and white.
As for the rest of it, it looks much like a grey version of the common Song Sparrow. Upper parts are brownish, streaked with darker, dusky colours. Underparts are dull white, again streaked with brownish on the chest and sides. It has a whitish eye ring. Another distinguishing feature, although harder to see clearly, is the chestnut coloured shoulders. Early settlers called this bird the ‘bay-winged bunting’.
The Vesper Sparrow always nests on the ground. Look for it in fields, pastures, open areas, clearings. The male bird always sings from a high point, tough - a fence post, a small tree, or tall weeds. Its nest is usually in a patch of weeds or a tuft of grass. It is made mostly of grass, too, perhaps lined with finer grass or horsehair. A habit which it has, not all that common among sparrows, is that of dust-bathing, like domestic chickens. If you are driving or walking along a country road in the heat of summer, you may see some small birds fly up. If they have white tail edges, they are Vespers.
Although this sparrow breeds right across Canada, it does not do so in the farthest northern parts of Ontario. A line from about Red Lake to Fort Albany would be just about the northern limit.
The Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) is quite different from the other one. For one thing, it does breed in all of Ontario, from Manitoba to Quebec.
This fellow is well named. It lives and breeds in marshes, bogs, swampy edges of lakes, beaver ponds, and so on. It makes its nest in tussocks of grass or in low shrubs. It climbs up and down reeds like a mouse. When it is frightened, it zigs into the thick grass and vanishes. In flight, it usually does not fly more than three feet or so off the ground, and not a very great distance, either.
Now, how do you know what to look for? First, it is a plump, rather darkish sparrow. The breast is dull grey, shading to whitish. Its throat is white, and is quite sharply marked off. But two things you might look for are, first, a chestnut red crown, like a Chipping Sparrow, and secondly, a grey line from the beak, over the eye, top the nape of the neck.
This bird is not really very well known, which is hardly surprising. A bird which spends all of its breeding time in swamps where you need high rubber boots to get around, tends to be somewhat obscure. Its song is not too much either - it is like that of the Chipping Sparrow, only somewhat sweeter. The male sings from a favourite perch and looks as if he is putting a great effort into it - tail spread, feathers fluffed out.
Well, there are a couple of sparrows which are not on the beaten track. Nor are you likely to see them around the house. You may just have to go looking for both of these fellows.