Backyard Big Year

Red-shouldered Hawk (Code 4) 24 Jan 2015

Area: Uncommon local resident and fairly common migrant, a few pairs are scattered across wooded areas of the county. Most commonly reported from Spruce Run Reservoir where a nesting pair is usually present.

Yard: Rare visitor, previous to 2015 only one sighting, a fall migrant flyby. Immature landed in trees in side yard 24 Jan 2015, mobbed briefly by group of crows, but they left it to sit for 15 minutes before moving on.

Classic Song Sparrow (left) and White-throated Sparrow (right).

Nobody could mistake a Song Sparrow for a White-throated Sparrow, right? The two don’t look anything alike. One has a streaked breast, often a central breast spot, and a prominent malar stripe or mustache. The other has an unmarked breast, prominent white throat, and yellow between the eyes and bill. Think again.

Streaked breast, central breast spot, prominent malar stripe–classic Song Sparrow, right? Nope!

What if you were a new birder and you saw this bird in your yard with a junco.  Maybe you haven’t seen that many sparrows before.  You thumb through your book, and you see read that Song Sparrow has a “striped face, streaks on the chest often run together into a central blotch” (Kaufman Guide) or that it is “coarsely streaked, with bold brown lateral throat-stripe and central breast-spot” (Sibley Guide).  You look back at the bird.  Three field marks tell you that this is a Song Sparrow.

Except it isn’t.  Most experienced birders would have no trouble telling that this is a first winter White-throated Sparrow.  But it isn’t even on the same page as the Song Sparrow in most guides, so how’s a novice to know?

This post really isn’t about how to tell the two apart, but more of a reminder of a few bird identification pitfalls.

We often say that you should ID a bird on more than one field mark.  In this case, without knowing better, you could make the ID based on three prominently mentioned classic field marks and still be wrong.  Bird descriptions and illustrations are usually helpful, but more so with experience.  We have to learn how to see birds.  Without experience, we often don’t know how to interpret what we are seeing.

And this doesn’t just go for new birders.  All of us have the potential to bump up against our experience gaps.  It may even happen more than we think.  How often do we make hasty calls, and if nobody is there to correct us, we are none the wiser.

How often do novices mistake young White-throated Sparrows for Song Sparrows?  Who knows?  Since they are both common in the Eastern US, it isn’t a mistake easily caught in eBird or elsewhere.  In the West, where White-throated Sparrows are less common, they would be more likely to be overlooked so the mistake might not be caught.

Since we all have to learn to see birds and how to interpret what we see, we should all be careful when we discuss bird ID with others.  Especially when dealing with a novice or non-birder.  Who knows what they are seeing?  You don’t have to be birding too long before you realize that not everyone sees the same thing when they are looking at a bird.  It takes birding socialization to align our perceptions with those of others.

So even if you think you could never mis-ID these two birds, perhaps there are still some valuable lessons to ponder from the Song vs. White-throated Sparrow ID dilemma?

Female Sharp-shinned Hawk, 20 Jan 2015

Sharp-shinned Hawk (Code 1) 16 Jan 2015

Area: Locally uncommon to fairly common winter resident, scarce local breeder, and common migrant.

Yard: Seen occasionally during the winter and more frequently during migration.  First bird of the 2015 was a female that bombed across the backyard briefly on 16 Jan.  The same or anther female bird popped up briefly on 20 Jan.  Photos aren’t great, but do show the squared off tail that is more consistent for this species than the more rounded tail of a Cooper’s Hawk.

More photos of the 20 Jan bird–all digiscoped with handheld iPod6 and Kowa 833 scope.

It’s been a tough slog the last few weeks, with only 2 new birds since January 2.  Spending every day with the same 20-30 species, and probably the same individual birds, is a real change of pace for me.  Normally by this time in January I’d have over 90 species for the county, and have logged hundreds of miles driving around to look for them all.  So far this January I’ve seen 42 species in the yard and a mere dozen or so other species elsewhere in the county.  It’s driving me a little crazy waiting for the birds to come to me!

Here are a couple eBird reports for the last few days
Jan 16
Jan 17
Jan 19

To keep myself going, I make sure to get out at least long enough to get my 20 Bird Minimum Daily Requirement.  I’m also filling in sound recordings for the audio big year.  Yesterday I added a recording of a calling Tufted Titmouse.

It has been interesting to watch for Canada Goose movements.  The last few days have been better for seeing flocks going over my house, so I’m scanning them for rare geese.  So far no dice, but it keeps me out looking!

Here are the species I saw in my yard in December, that haven’t shown up yet in January:  Cooper’s Hawk, Merlin, Greater White-fronted Goose (Code 4), Common Raven (Code 3), Common Grackle, Purple Finch (Code 2).

Waterfowl are moving–with most of the small ponds in the area frozen over, they are accumulating on the reservoirs and different species seem to show up on different days, so I know they are moving in the area.  How to see or hear them from my yard is the mystery!

It’s cold birding in January. Sundays I switch out the cold weather clothing for a suit and tie and take a break from the backyard big year.

I’m hitting my backyard big year pretty hard, outside in the cold at least 2 hours each day, and spending many more hours watching from inside, listening live to my OldBird 21c microphone, or reviewing audio recordings from the day or overnight recording sessions.  By the end of the week, my birding muscles are shot!

Sunday is my day of rest.  Since I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Sunday is our Sabbath.  It is a day devoted mostly to family and church, and a rest from our normal daily labors.  For me it’s a great day to take a break from the backyard big year and recharge my birding batteries.  Since I’m currently 1.5 years into a usually 5 year gig as a Mormon bishop, my Sundays are pretty busy filled with leadership meetings, conducting services, counseling with church members, and often more meetings in the evening.  I’m usually out of the house by 7:15am and sometimes don’t get back until after dark.

This Sunday was no exception.  About half an hour before our main service (“sacrament meeting”) we determined that at the freezing rain was making travel too dangerous and we canceled services for the day.  Fortunately we were able to reach 200+ members by phone to let them know so they could stay home safe rather than risk driving in an ice storm.  Even though services were cancelled, I still ended up at the church until 2:30 with other meetings, then I had to drive to Morristown, NJ for leadership meetings.  I was home about 6:30pm after a very long day.

And no birds.

OK, I saw a couple species when I walked out to my car in the morning, but that was pretty much it.  And that’s OK.

Because now my bird muscles have relaxed and I’m ready to hit it hard again.  The birding sabbath is over for the week, and I’m ready to roll.  Bring it!