During a brief visit to Eagle Bluffs this morning, I was fortunate to encounter a small flock of lark sparrows, foraging on a graveled road. Easily identified by their distinctive facial pattern, central breast spot and white tail edging, these rather large sparrows are most common across the Great Plains and Great Basin during the breeding season. But they seem to prefer their wintering grounds in Florida, South Texas, Southern California and Mexico, migrating northward rather late in the spring and heading south by late summer.
Here in Missouri and in other parts of the Mississippi River Valley, they are uncommon summer residents, attracted to fallow fields, over-grazed pastures and weedy grasslands with nearby shrubs and woodlands. They scour the open terrain for insects and seeds and place their nest on or near the ground.
As a birder for more than forty years, I have found that sparrows are among the most difficult species to distinguish in the field. But when one encounters a lark sparrow, there is no confusing it with its drab cousins.
Here in Missouri and in other parts of the Mississippi River Valley, they are uncommon summer residents, attracted to fallow fields, over-grazed pastures and weedy grasslands with nearby shrubs and woodlands. They scour the open terrain for insects and seeds and place their nest on or near the ground.
As a birder for more than forty years, I have found that sparrows are among the most difficult species to distinguish in the field. But when one encounters a lark sparrow, there is no confusing it with its drab cousins.
