Enjoying the shady retreat of our front porch yesterday afternoon, I caught site of a small sparrow that was foraging on the street and intermittently flying up into a large sweetgum tree. I knew it had to be a chipping sparrow (the first of the year for me) due to that behavior and I soon confirmed its identity with my binoculars.
Common across most of the U.S. during the warmer months (though generally absent on the Great Plains), these attractive and rather tame sparrows feast on both insects and seeds. Their nests are placed in shrubs or low in trees (usually conifers) and two broods are typically raised each summer. Come October they head to the southern tier of the U.S. or to Mexico for the winter.
Most sparrows that are encountered in Missouri are permanent or winter residents. Chipping sparrows are an exception and it is always a pleasure to catch their arrival in the spring.
