Fox Sparrow Passing Through

They do not belong to us...

If you spot a Fox Sparrow in Iowa, or anywhere in eastern US in the next few weeks, take a moment and have a good look. They won’t be here long.

Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca

Yesterday one hopped through my garden, stirring up its breakfast. It attracted my eye because it looked like a sparrow — but big!

The Fox Sparrow swooped into a spot where dried oak leaves completely covered the ground. The bird’s rust-and gray colors matched the leaves so well that it was hard to see it except when it moved.

(A) Jumping in leaves. (B) Red triangles on flanks. (C) Central breast spot.

It kept jumping backward and pecking at the ground, finding the insect larvae hidden under the dead leaves. I was glad I’d left the leaves to enrich the soil where they landed last fall. Now the leaves are a pantry, feeding birds at the moment when they urgently need fuel for their long migration flights.

Fox Sparrow is named after foxes, who have rusty red fur. Fox Sparrow also has vivid reddish triangles on its white chest and sides. Handsome. Worth taking a good look at, if you’re lucky enough to have one pass through your garden.

Fox Sparrows are heading north to nest. In eastern North America, we get to see them only in winter or while they’re migrating. I usually see them in March.

Fox Sparrows are not ours. They are travelers, passing through. My garden is just one of many rest stops. The sparrow I welcomed yesterday was the first migrating song bird I've seen this year. Now it’s really spring.