The case of the missing sparrows



Here's a White-throated Sparrow in my yard - back when I
had sparrows.

 

     This sparrow thing is beginning to concern me. I haven't seen one in about a month now, and I used to have them regularly. Now I'm not sure what to do.

     I once had as many as four species of sparrows feeding here. Chipping, White-throated, Song and Field sparrows all showed up from time to time. They are generally ground feeders, but they also came to my platform feeders and even to a tube feeder if it had mixed seed. They're hard to identify from a distance, because their size and coloring are so similar and they are well camouflaged.

     Over the past few days I have been putting mixed seed on the ground between my feeders and a nearby holly bush, in order to provide a feeding area near cover.

    Why near cover? Predators. There may be a number of reasons for the missing sparrows, but I’m putting my money on things that like to eat birds.

       So let’s take a look at the clues and the suspects.

• Clue #1: Hawks have been raiding the feeding station with more frequency lately. I had to run another Cooper’s Hawk from my yard the other morning.
• Clue #2: Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned hawks have an affinity for munching on sparrows.
• Clue #3: I saw a cat schlepping through the yard just yesterday, tail twitching and eyes fixed on the House Finches at my tube feeder. A ground-feeding sparrow could be easy lunch for a cat.

      So, is it Mr. Cooper, at the feeding station with the talons? Or could it be Mrs. Tabby near the holly bush with the claws? Tune in later.

      Meanwhile, I'll continue to put food on the ground for the next couple of weeks, in hopes of getting a family of migrants to visit. But if the number of hawks I see around here continues to exceed the number of sparrows, I just may take the drastic measure of halting the feeding altogether - for a while, anyway.

Here's what I saw today:

(AM, sunny, 66 degrees, 20 minutes)

 

Northern Cardinal

Northern Mockingbird

Carolina Wren

House Finch

Blue Jay

Carolina Chickadee

Mourning Dove