Thanks to our friend Natalie for sharing her gorgeous photos of several of the White-throated Sparrows that she has been seeing in her yard. White-throated Sparrows generally show up in our area every fall around the same time as Dark-eyed Juncos. Although they can be found year-round here in New England, in the spring and summertime we don’t often see them because they breed in forests and along forest edges. In the fall and winter, they turn up in city and suburban parks, grassy fields, and our backyards – as long as there is dense vegetation and/or brush piles. I have a large brush pile in my yard and I can hear them singing from there, especially in the early morning.

White-throated Sparrows are a handsome bird with their flashy white throats, black stripes on head and face, and bright yellow patch above the eye. White-throated Sparrows come in two different morphs – one with a white crown and the other with a tan crown. Now for something really interesting, individuals almost always mate with birds of the opposite morph! Both morphs will also occasionally mate with Dark-eyed Juncos! The hybrid sparrows look like duller, grayer White-throated Sparrows.

If you are not seeing White-throated Sparrows, but would like to attract them to your yard, try feeding them white millet from a tray feeder or toss it directly on the ground. They will also come to tray feeders if sunflower seeds or sunflower chips are offered. Here’s a link to some of our tray feeders https://order.wbu.com/sudbury/bird-feeders/tray-feeders

By the way, I mentioned them singing from my brush pile every morning – I love hearing them because they sing such a sweet song. Here is a link from The Cornell Lab of Ornithology with their song https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-throated_Sparrow/sounds