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| Eurasian Tree Sparrow |
Road tripping for an avian oddity
(published 10-15-13)
If I ever stop feeding the birds, house sparrows will be the
reason. Far too many frolic in my backyard. They eat too much. They spoil the
birdbath. They hog nesting cavities, making life harder for other birds.
And the house sparrow, like the European starling, is not a
native species. That alone is enough to raise the ire of most birders.
So it might surprise you that I put 250 miles on my Corolla
last month just to see a non-native bird. Not a rare vagrant from overseas but
one that lives in Illinois all year around.
Like the house sparrow, the Eurasian tree sparrow was
imported here from Europe in the 19th century. The two are close
relatives and look similar. The big
difference is range. House sparrows were
set free in Brooklyn, around 1850, and spread like wildfire. They are abundant
from coast to coast.
Eurasian tree sparrows, on the other hand, are local and
uncommon. In North America, they are found in only three places: eastern Missouri; southeastern Iowa; and
west-central Illinois. The species was first released in St. Louis’s Lafayette
Park in 1870.
Until recently I had no idea that Eurasian tree sparrows
existed within 120 miles of Glen Ellyn. Then I noticed an Illinois Young
Birders outing scheduled for Sugar Grove Nature Center in Funks Grove, just
south of Bloomington. The trip leader, Ben Murphy, described Sugar Grove as one
of the most reliable places to see Eurasian tree sparrows.
I appreciate reliability, especially when it involves a bird
I’ve never seen. So off I went with my
son Jay, who is not a birder but likes road trips.
Birding in late September, at the height of fall migration,
is almost guaranteed to be good. And Sugar Grove proved better than good on a
sunny but chilly morning. The 1,100-acre
preserve teemed with warblers, vireos, tanagers, grosbeaks and other migrating beauties.
In two hours we piled on 45 species
including the most black-and-white warblers and rose-breasted grosbeaks I’d
ever seen in one place. Spotting a Lincoln’s sparrow and a blue-winged warbler
was especially nice since those two species traditionally elude me.
Turning our backs on the show outside wasn’t easy but I was
eager to get a look at the star attraction.
Imagine that, a non-native sparrow pulling me off the trails on a bright
and birdy September morning. The chance for a lifer makes us crazy sometimes.
Ben, Jay and I entered Sugar Grove’s Hazel Funk Holmes Bird Viewing
Sanctuary inside the interpretive center. Multiple feeding stations just
outside the crystal-clear windows were attracting a feathery crowd, including
lots of hummingbirds. A birder could
spend many happy hours in a place like this. Clearly it’s a wonderful place for
kids to learn about birds, too.
Fortunately, the seed eaters outside the viewing room included
a few Eurasian tree sparrows—far outnumbered by house sparrows but easy to tell
apart by their black cheek patch and reddish-brown cap. Ben told me the
Eurasian population at Sugar Grove is much greater in late fall and winter,
when they naturally rely more on feeder food.
Comparing the two immigrant species side by side and
watching them interact was interesting. Eurasian tree sparrows and house
sparrows don’t play nice, at the feeders and elsewhere. They compete for nesting cavities and the chunkier,
more aggressive house sparrow usually wins.
Experts believe this is the main reason why Eurasians remain so limited
in their U.S. distribution. They’re simply
not wired for world domination like house sparrows and starlings.
Before heading home, Jay and I took the Mother Road, Old
Route 66, over to Funks Grove Pure Maple Sirup. Yes, they really spell it that
way, and the sweet treat is one of life’s simple pleasures. As I purchased a glass-bottled quart, the
shopkeeper asked what brought us to the area. Birding, I said, and one bird in
particular. She’d never heard of it.
Northbound on I-55, it occurred to me that the casual
visitor might never catch on that Sugar Grove harbors an unusual avian
resident. Nothing I noticed at the nature center told the story of the Eurasian
tree sparrow, a bird just outside and yet so far away from its original home.
But for curious birders with some gas money, a “reliable”
life list opportunity is really quite close.
Copyright 2013 by Jeff Reiter. All rights reserved.