Call of the Wild
This won’t take long…read on.
Discover one of your neighbors. One of your feathered neighbors that is. If you live from the central United States to the deep south, this bird is your neighbor all winter. But, if the Red Maple Leaf is on your national flag, this bird is your summer neighbor.
For those of you who are skeptical by now, my advice is keep reading. Find out about this bird. Once you can identify its call and recognize what it looks like, my guess is your life will improve. No, you won’t become rich. Yet this bird’s call is rich. In my opinion the call of the white throated sparrow is a true call of the wild.
White throated sparrows use the place where we live (West Central Minnesota) as a staging area. They fuel up on seeds beneath our bird feeders on the north bound trip in spring and repeat the process on the south bound return in the fall. In our area they are passing through. They never stay long enough. They never seem to linger for more than two weeks. This morning the number of white throated sparrows at our feeders was reduced to only 2-3 birds. The rest of the flock has moved northward.
White throated sparrows are built for shrubby thickets, brushy areas, undergrowth around conifers. Since they are ground feeders, their open cup nests are also built on the ground. They eat seeds year around adding insects during spring, summer and early fall when the air is above 32 degrees Fahrenheit. I give you my personal guarantee that you’ll enjoy how they scratch for food. They use both feet together and jump backward as they scratch.
It is an athletic move. You’ll enjoy it.
When the pair of white throated sparrows has chosen a nest site it must be concealed on three sides. Ground nests have unique dangers to be avoided. The nest building happens in the morning with the finished result being an open cup with a foundation of moss and a layer of animal hair for the eggs to rest in. The female will lay up to six that are a pale to greenish blue in color. Look at one of your little fingernails imagine an egg that size.
If you are like me you say- “If you want me to know how to identify a sparrow, it will never happen. Sparrows all look the same.”
But good news…the white throated sparrow is quite easy to identify. Look for a sparrow like bird with a black and white striped head. A closer look, which you will want to attempt, will reveal a patch of yellow just behind the beak and true to its name a white triangle of feathers under its bill on its neck.
Now about the call of the wild.
Let me warn you…what you are about to read is opinion…but it is experienced, knowledgeable opinion.
Here it is: the call of the white throated sparrow is a true call of the wild. It is clear and make your eyes tear up beautiful. Birder’s descriptions of bird song using words never seems to come close. Yet, the words for the white throated sparrow call actually make sense after you have heard the call. There are two which are most common. The first is “Old Sam Peabody, Peabody.” Don’t laugh. You won’t when you hear the call for real. The second is “Sweet, Sweet, Canada, Canada, Canada.”
It would greatly please me for you to hear this bird. It does provide us with a true call of the wild. Birds have no boundaries, they can enter your backyard surrounded by neighboring houses and development. Their song is just as wild as it is in a central Canada coniferous forest with miles of wilderness between you and civilization.
I’ve said it before, birds are miracles with feathers. It would be wise of you to attempt to see and hear your own white throated sparrow. A part of the miracle of any bird is seeing the hand of God. He made every sparrow. He knows where each one is. He knows when one falls.
Watching the sparrows is good for something else. Sparrows are God’s creatures. He is pleased with their creation. Yes, they are important to Him. But you and I are more important. Don’t fear…watch the sparrows, be reminded of your infinite worth to God who made you and me…and the white throated sparrow.