Far From Home
I was startled to see this young white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) hunkering in the cold at the seed feeder this morning. He's a long way from the rest of his species, they having migrated to the Lower 48 and Mexico a couple of months ago.
Sweet little thing is not at all equipped to deal with winter here... no underlying fluff against his skin, and the weed seeds that are his diet have long been covered with a foot of snow...
While he is here and coming to the feeder, the chickadees are barely tolerating him and the larger birds totally scare him off.
He has been doing his best to manage prying open sunflower seeds, and also visits the peanut butter feeder.
I'm thinking it is likely a juvenile, (his first winter) his adult white stripe on his crown is still dull gray. Somehow he missed the need to get the heck out and migrate south with the rest of the sparrows.
-21 F (-30C) here this morning.
Far From Home
I was startled to see this young white-crowned sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys) hunkering in the cold at the seed feeder this morning. He's a long way from the rest of his species, they having migrated to the Lower 48 and Mexico a couple of months ago.
Sweet little thing is not at all equipped to deal with winter here... no underlying fluff against his skin, and the weed seeds that are his diet have long been covered with a foot of snow...
While he is here and coming to the feeder, the chickadees are barely tolerating him and the larger birds totally scare him off.
He has been doing his best to manage prying open sunflower seeds, and also visits the peanut butter feeder.
I'm thinking it is likely a juvenile, (his first winter) his adult white stripe on his crown is still dull gray. Somehow he missed the need to get the heck out and migrate south with the rest of the sparrows.
-21 F (-30C) here this morning.