After having a great opportunity to study an adult Gambel’s White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys gambelii) at Arlene Koch’s property last weekend near Easton, while also enjoying the immature Harris’s Sparrow there, I was interested to learn more about this western subspecies’ history in Pennsylvania and the mid-Atlantic. Gambel’s White-crowneds are essentially the western-Canadian counterpart of our more familiar Eastern birds … Read More
Harris’s Sparrow and ‘Gambel’s’ White-crowned Sparrow
Arlene Koch’s famous backyard habitat near Easton, PA which has lured in countless uncommon, unusual, and rare birds over the years is currently hosting a first winter Harris’s Sparrow as well as an adult ‘Gambel’s’ White-crowned Sparrow! I was able to make a quick stop by her house this past Sunday and was happy to get great views of both … Read More
‘Puget Sound’ White-crowned Sparrows
Many species of sparrows vary considerably in appearance and vocalizations across their ranges in North America. In particular Dark-eyed Juncos, Song Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, and White-crowned Sparrows show the most distinct populations. The White-crowned Sparrow (Zonotrichia leucophrys), one of our largest and classiest-looking sparrow, can be separated into five subspecies: Eastern (Z. l. leucophrys), Gambel’s (Z. l. gambelii), Mountain (Z. l. … Read More
Golden Eagle and Great Horned Owl – Centre Co, PA
Despite the strong wind and 15 degree temperatures, it was so sunny out today that I had to go birding. I was hoping to try for some photos of the locally uncommon White-crowned Sparrows and more common American Tree Sparrows, so my first stop was to an area local birders call Whitehall Farms. After walking around for a bit and … Read More
Nelson’s Sparrows – PSU Fall Banding
Mid-October offers Pennsylvania birders an opportunity to try and find a rather rare migrant though our state, the Nelson’s Sparrow. This fall it seems weather conditions and increased birder effort has created a bit of a Nelson’s Sparrow infux, with over 20 individual birds reported around the state at this point. Tim Becker found the first of the fall on … Read More
Answer to the Tricky Angles photo quiz
The answers to the Tricky Angles photo quiz were mostly correct for the first and last bird in the quiz, but the middle bird had lots of different answers. If you haven’t looked at the quiz, check out the images below before looking at the answers. The Quiz Photos
Bird Banding Highlights – March and early April 2012
So far this season, we have had six days of bird banding in the PSU Arboretum’s Big Hollow property. Nick Kerlin is our official bird bander as well as the State College Bird Club president. The biggest change this season from previous seasons is that we have a new banding area – instead of sitting on the ground surrounded by … Read More
Migration of White-crowned Sparrow subspecies
David Sibley has been putting up some interesting posts on bird ranges and migration based on banding recoveries. His latest post looks into the migration patterns of different subspecies of White-crowned Sparrows and questions the occurence of Gamble’s White-crowned Sparrow in the northeast based on information from recoveries. Follow the link below to read his whole post. White-crowned Sparrow subspecies … Read More
Other Creek Rd birds
I didn’t manage to get great pictures of the rarer birds at Creek Road but I managed to hook my camera up to my scope for some pictures of the more common species coming to the seed pile. I was hand holding the scope out the car window while it was raining so the photos are still not top notch, … Read More