White-throated Sparrows visit my yard regularly during spring and fall migrations. When they're here, I add a little more millet to my seed offerings by broadcasting WBU Deluxe Blend on the ground.
I spread it around all their favorite feeding spots: under the feeders that are closest to cover, below the rosa rugosa and surrounding cover, and on the pine duff on the west side of the house where they'd do their backward scratch move to forage. This higher-millet blend also satisfies other ground feeding birds like the resident juncos and the migrating Fox Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows.
This year's batch of white-throateds have been more bold, visiting not only a hopper-type feeder, but also a window tray feeder.
This was a special treat for me since the eye-level view through a window (albeit speckled with seed debris) afforded me some great looks at the vivid white throat from which he gets his name and the brilliant yellow lores. (It was interesting: none on the more timid tan morph birds came up to the window feeder).
The visiting sparrows, including this tan morph, also took advantage of a birdbath, enthusiastically cleaning even in a bath yet to be cleared of a winter's worth of pine needles.
What a wondrous bath this bird took. Totally engaged, spinning and turning at such a speed, in a couple images you can barely tell it's a bird, or not a LIVE one!
The White-throated Sparrows have since moved on to their breeding grounds, perhaps in the Canadian boreal forest. They'll be back in the fall though, with juvenile birds in tow. And my birdfeeder, birdbath, and I will be ready for them!
Comments