This observer was delighted when one hopped up on his front porch one spring and strenuously tugged at a densely woven mat, extracting pieces of the straw-like fiber for its nest in a spruce. These were once called “hair birds” because they also use horse hair to line their nests, Edson noted. (“Three kinds of sparrows,” D&C, 21 April 1920)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 30 September to 3 December, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 16 October to 3 November.
Fall maxima: 200 on 15 September 1970 (Foster) at Lima. (GNR) 50 on 2 October 2000 (Clarridge) Mendon Ponds. (GNR) 36 on 5 October 1968 (Lloyd) at Webster. (GOS, December 1968) 50+ on 11 October 1982 (F. Dobson, J. Kesselring) Geneseo. (GOS, December 1982)
Winter: Wintering birds are rare but have been found, on average, every other year the last three decades. One was reported 2 January 1960 (Listman) near Conesus during a winter of record snowfall (GOS, March/July 1960); another was at a Honeoye Falls feeder (R. Jones) on 1 February 1972 (KB22: 88) and one was reported 3 February 1974 (O’Hara) at Rochester. (KB24: 75) Region 2 Kingbird reports mention January or early February sightings of this species in 12 of 30 years from 1976 to 2005, including one banded on 6 January 1986 (Brooks) at Pittsford. (KB 36:91) Another was at Honeoye Falls (K. and J. Fox) on 21 February 1995 (LG, March 1995), just days before another was at Webster (Cerosaletti) on 1 March. (LG, April 1995)
Misc.
Though these birds are unmistakable in breeding plumage, adult non-breeding birds can be confused with Clay-colored Sparrow. Gerhard Leubner, for example, trapped and banded what appeared to be a very late Chipping Sparrow in his Irondequoit yard on 27 November 1956. However, the more he reviewed the field marks of various sparrows, “he began to wonder whether the bird could possibly have been an immature Clay-colored Sparrow.” Fortunately, the bird Leubner had banded obligingly returned to his trap two days later, and again on 1 December, allowing him to “check one vital field mark – the rump was the gray of the Chipping Sparrow rather than the buffy-brown of the Clay-colored Sparrow.” (GNR)