A White-throated Sparrow on a Sunday Afternoon

California is home to over 400 species of breeding birds, with another couple hundred seen regularly during migration and winter, making it first in the nation in terms of avian diversity.  (Texas, it must be noted, is a close second!)  But that doesn't mean we quite have it all, here on the West Coast!  There are plenty of species exclusively found in the East, and even more that are considered common birds in the eastern United States, but only occasionally turn up here in California or are present seasonally in relatively small numbers.

The White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) falls into this category.

Every winter, a comparatively small number of White-throated Sparrows, which are common in the Eastern U.S. and Canada, find their way to the West Coast, and a handful turn up in the Central Valley.  But until yesterday, I had yet to see one in my own county, Stanislaus.  

The neat thing about sparrows is that, although they might be considered a confusing group of little brown birds to beginning birders, with their streaky drab markings and habit of staying hidden in low vegetation, overwintering flocks are pretty easy to find.  During the winter, flocks of sparrows tend to stick together in one small geographical area for months, where they typically spend a large part of their day foraging on the ground.  And sometimes, mixed in with the usual crowd of White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows (Zonotrichia leucophrys and Z. atricapilla), is something more interesting, like a White-throated Sparrow.  

Because they often remain in the same small area through the winter, once a neat sparrow is discovered, the information of its exact whereabouts can be passed along and in a short time a number of birders can visit the same spot with a high probability of re-finding the same bird.  So it was with this White-throated Sparrow, a bird that was first discovered a week before I was able to re-find it (by my own dad, no less!).  While not exactly rare or entirely unexpected in this area, a White-throated Sparrow is definitely a good find! 

Here in the Great Central Valley, we are just weeks away from the beginning of spring migration; already, birds are becoming restless and resident males are singing in defense of their territories.  Cliff Swallows are arriving now, and resident species, like Black Phoebes and Anna's Hummingbirds, are already nesting.  This White-throated Sparrow, along with its White-crowned and Golden-crowned flock mates, will leave the Valley soon, headed for breeding grounds in coniferous forests.  In the case of the White-throated Sparrow, that means returning to the forests of Canada and the northeastern U.S. 

Special thanks for this bird has to go to my dad for finding it in the first place, and my husband, Eric, along with our friends, Josh and Becca, who were willing to hang out near the "sparrow spot" (on campus at CSU Stanislaus, by the way), enjoying their Sunday afternoon picnic like normal people, while I wandered off in search of the bird.  

Birding is often a group effort and always a treasure hunt, where long looks and good photographs of beautiful birds are the prize!