Towhees and Sparrows

Bachman’s Sparrow

Peucaea aestivalisformerly Aimophila aestivalis
At 6 a.m. on 8 May 1940, Gordon Meade entered a clearing in Mendon Ponds Park, and was greeted with a song of “unusual beauty which was entirely new to me in twenty years of observation in this region.” It sounded like a cross between a Field Sparrow and a towhee, he wrote in notes printed in the Auk the next year. (Auk 58: 103-104) For five straight days, the small bird when first seen was “always on the top of a small aspen or conifer,” Meade noted. “There it would remain, singing at ten- to thirty-second intervals, until approached too closely or rapidly when it would stop singing, become uneasy, and then would dart down with a very shallowly undulating flight into the grass or low branches of a conifer.“When found again and flushed, there would be a short low flight and another drop into the grass. After a waiting interval it would again take an elevated perch and resume singing.”It was a Bachman’s Sparrow, never before reported in our region. “Just what induced this bird to wander so far north of its normal range is another of those problems which make bird study such a fascinating hobby,” Edson noted. (WBR, 13 May 1940) And then, to top it all off, it again was found in the park the following spring.
Background
This is an “enigmatic” resident of the American southeast, with a simple but pleasant song, and shy, secretive habits. Historically it was most common in mature, open pine forests, but with the logging of those forests, it is now found in open clearcuts and utility rights-of-way where it still finds the grassy conditions it prefers. Its range and population expanded tremendously from 1890 to 1915, but it has retreated from the northern parts of its range since the 1930s. It apparently benefits from deforestation and farm abandonment, which provide degraded pastures or clearcuts, but may disappear when forest succession renders open habitats unsuitable. It is now rare in many areas where it was once common. (BNA 38: 1-2)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an exotic, very rare visitant.
Occurrence
Two records. 1. Though Meade did not have a permit to collect the vagrant he found 8-12 May 1940, there was no doubt about its identity. The bird was under observation for periods of one-half to one and one-half hours for five days, at distances as close as eight feet. It was “compared carefully” not only with textual descriptions but skins of a related subspecies. “Confirmation of identification was also made by Mr. Fred Hall, of Ward’s Museum, who was previously familiar with the bird in Tennessee” and by five other experienced members of the Genesee Ornithological Society, Meade noted.“There seems to have been no strong south wind to have carried him from his course, so he must be put down as a pioneer blazing his way into new country,” Edson wrote. Meade described the clearing as overgrown with meadow grasses and scattered small aspens and conifers, bordered on three sides by heavy deciduous woodland and on the fourth by a swampy, brush-covered area. Edson speculated that the park’s hills, with scattered white oaks and aspens among its grasslands, might very well prove an ideal breeding area for this species. 2. Speculation of eventual breeding here was further fueled when “The Bachman’s sparrow again is back in Mendon Ponds Park for the second spring,” Edson reported. (WBR, 29 April 1941) The bird was seen on 20 April 1941. “Last spring one of these birds spent several days in the same location.”Edson speculated that both birds seen here had “joined some migrating flock of sparrows” and ventured far north of their normal range. “The location . . . selected, near Lost Pond in Mendon Ponds Park, while not exactly the same as it seems to prefer in the normal nesting range, may yet prove satisfactory and a colony may eventually become established here.” It didn’t happen. This remains a bird primarily of the southeast U.S., and these remain the only sightings in Monroe County.

Grasshopper Sparrow***

Ammodramus savannarum
One of the best places to find these elusive sparrows is along Nations Road. Frank Dobson, touring the road in July 1982, came across a Grasshopper Sparrow as it “sat on a fencepost with a long green worm in its bill. Obviously about to feed its offspring hidden somewhere in the tall grass, as long as we watched it, it watched us, not about to reveal the location of the nest. We moved on and it dropped from the post.” (Birds, 1 August 1982) “It frequents dry weedy fields, and being very secretive, is seldom reported after its insect-like song ceases to disclose its presence,” Beardslee and Mitchell noted. (B&M, p. 432) Edson, too, noted that “its bump of curiosity is either non-existent or poorly developed. Therefore you can almost step on him before he jumps up and flies a short distance and either drops to the ground or hides in or under a bush or clump of grass.” (WBR, 3 September 1946)
Background
Because it forages exclusively on the ground, this large-headed, short-tailed sparrow with the buzzy, insect-like song usually selects grassland or prairies with greater amounts of bare ground than the Savannah Sparrow, with which it is often found. Although its breeding range is distributed across most of the United States, especially from the Great Plains eastward, it is often quite local in distribution. Many populations, in fact, have experienced long-term declines because of loss of prairies, conversion of agricultural grasslands to intensive row crops, and control of prairie fires. Populations have been reduced by more than 85 percent in Illinois, for example, and only remnant populations survive in coastal Massachusetts and much of southern New England. The distinctive, domed ground nest is very difficult to locate. (BNA 239: 1-3, 11, 15)
Local history
This species has apparently never been very common here. Eaton (1910) listed it as only a “local” summer resident in Monroe County, with no indication of occurrence for Livingston or Wayne. (Eaton I: county chart)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to two birds, with a maximum count of only three, on dates ranging from 25 April to 23 August. “A nesting pair or two noted most every year,” he added.However, it “can hardly be considered common in Monroe County, and the discovery of a new nesting station is enough to cause rejoicing among bird lovers,” Horsey and Edson noted in 1929. (“Rare Grasshopper Sparrows Found Nesting Near Pittsford,” D&C, 3 June 1929) “For several years they nested on the dry hillside near Highland Park, until the encroaching city drove them out,” they added. “Now the nearest station that I know of is southeast of Pittsford.”Edson considered this “one of the least known of our summer resident sparrows,” and while it was “fairly common” in old daisy or sorrel covered fields, it apparently did not like thick vegetation. (WBR, 3 September 1946) When Leo Tanghe analyzed sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from January 1951 through December 1954, this species was the least frequently encountered summer sparrow, showing up on 28 of 259 June-August lists within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)Nonetheless, in his 1953 list of nesting birds in the Rochester area, he considered this a common breeder, and mentioned Fairport and West Henrietta as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)John Brown, writing in 1958, described the distribution of this “shy, retiring denizen of fairly short-grassed fields” as “spotty. In migration it is sometimes fairly common along the lakeshore, but not in the summer.” “The place where it can be found anytime by a persistent observer with a sharp ear and eye,” he added, “is the Rochester-Monroe County Airport where several pairs are reported nesting.” (BA, 10 July 1958)Like many grassland sparrows, it has probably lost ground because of reduction in fallow fields and because hay fields are mowed earlier, disrupting its nesting.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, uncommon to fairly common summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular fairly common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 9 April to 23 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 30 April to 8 May.
Spring maxima: 16 on 10 May 2003 (R. Spahn) Nations Road. (GNR) 8 on 27 May 1996 (Fox) at Nunda. (LG, June 1996) 10 on 30 May 1971 (G. and B. Perrigo) at Mendon Ponds. (GNR)
Summer/breeding status: In 1978, Robert Spahn noted that, like Henslow’s and Vesper Sparrow, this species was “still way down.” After “brief, high, very local concentrations in migration, each dispersed to a scattered remnant.” (KB 28: 169) In 1984, he noted that this species, was “rare and local” (GOS, September 1984) and a year later grouped it along with Henslow’s and Vesper as “faring much better away from the lakeshore.” (KB35: 264) That is exactly what the Breeding Bird Atlas projects have documented.During the first project this species, though absent from most of Wayne County, was well represented along the lake plain west of the Genesee River. It was also found throughout Livingston County.During the second project, however, this species was almost completely absent from the west lakeshore, with the majority of breeding confined to Livingston and western Ontario counties. “From verbal input from workers, it is clear that Grasshopper . . . sparrows were hard to find in what appeared to be suitable habitat,” according to the notes to the July 2002 noteworthy records in the Goshawk.

The Nations Road area remains a stronghold for this species. Kimball in 2004 estimated breeding by 20 to 30 pairs. (Burger and Liner, p. 82)
Summer maxima: 18 on 3 June 2000 (Kimball) at Nation’s Road. (GNR) 30 on 6 June 1965 Foley, McGee) at Hamlin Beach SP. (KB 15: 232) 10 on 16 June 1997 (K. Fox) at a single location on Nation’s Road. (KB47: 299) 7-14+ from 1-15 July 1982 (C. Cass et al) at Nation’s Road (LG, August 1982) 20 on 7 July 1990 ( Genesee Ornithological Society field trip) Nations Road. (Fox, p. 92) Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 15 August to 6 October, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 1 to 12 September. Subsequently, one on 9 October 1997 (J. Kimball) at Nations Road was record late. (GOS, December 1997)

Lark Sparrow

Chondestes grammacus
As Mike Davids pulled into Parking Lot 4 at Hamlin Beach State Park on 12 November 1993, a single bird flew up from next to the ditch, and landed in the parking lot near a bathroom. It wasn’t instantly recognizable as a Tree Sparrow. It was alone. It was November. It now had Davids’ full attention. “Get on that bird,” he hollered over to Carolyn Cass, standing nearby with a scope. She did. “Lark Sparrow?” she queried back. It was indeed. And it stayed three days. “It was quite cooperative,” Davids later recalled. Indeed. One birder who had gone to the park primarily to study loons in flight almost stepped on the bird as it foraged in the middle of the sidewalk!
Background
This widespread species of open habitats once bred as far east as the northern and central Atlantic states, but is now retreating, “probably toward its original pre-Columbian distribution as eastern lands historically cleared for agriculture during the mid-1800s return to forest, or are progressively taken over by urbanization,” notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series. It nests in grasslands, roadsides, farmlands and shrubby steppe from Illinois west to the Pacific coast, and from the southern Canadian prairie into northern Mexico, often preferring disturbed sites with poor or sandy soil. Courtship is unique among passerines: Males perform turkey-like strutting with tail upright, flashing the white tail spots. During copulation, the male passes a twig to the female. Despite drastic declines in the east, populations in the western U.S. have been stable or increasing. (BNA 488: 1-2, 9, 13)
Local history
Eaton suggested this might some day become one of our common sparrows here after a pair was reported nesting in an undisclosed location in Monroe County in 1911. (Eaton II:300-301) That didn’t happen. More than half a century passed before the next sighting.
Status
Occasional, very rare visitant.
Occurrence Only a handful of reports in our region, and not all of them conclusive. 1. Nesting in 1911 at undisclosed location in Monroe County. (Eaton II: 300) 2. One 3-5 May 1963 “seen by many observers and banded by Dr. Gerhar(d) Leubner.” (AL, p. 53; WBR, May 13, 1963) The bird was coming to a newly seeded lawn on the west side of Braddock Bay, according to Leubner’s banding notes. He put up a mistnet and caught the bird in about 15 minutes. “Excellent colored (sic) photos” were taken of the bird in hand, and it was released the next morning, lingering into the next day. (KB 13:161) 3. One on 30 April 1984 (R. Spahn) at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, Rochester. (KB 34:180, GNR) Not accepted by NYSARC. (KB 35:230) 4. One 26 April 1988 (Griffith) Island Cottage Woods. (KB38: 197) 5. Four to five on 12 April 1992 (T. L. Clark) at Webster. (GOS, June 1992) Not accepted by NYSARC. (KB 44:7) 6. One 12-15 November 1993 (Davids, mob) Hamlin Beach SP (KB 44:42), “discovered picking seeds on the grass and along the sidewalks, next to the parking lot, near the public telephones” at Parking Lot 4. (Birds, 21 Nov 1993) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 45:74)Note: One 11 July 1997 at Lima (KB 47:297) was not accepted by NYSARC. (KB 50: 23) See Fox, p. 108, for further discussion of discrepancies in the sketch and write up that cast doubts on the identity of this bird. For example, “the sketch depicted a combination of a breast spot and a streaked breast. . . a feature which is not described in any field guide for an adult nor an immature Lark Sparrow.”An immature was reported 27 August 1983 at Riverside Cemetery on a dirt road at the edge of the cemetery. “Since there was only one observer and no photographs, due to the rarity of this species here, the bird will be treated as ‘hypothetical’” – LGNR.

Chipping Sparrow

Spizella passerina
As participants in a Genesee Ornithological Society field trip wandered amid the blooms of Highland Park on 13 May 1992, they came upon a curious sight. “On the downside of the hill we came upon two Chipping Sparrows spiraling up into the air in a tight vortex about two feet above the ground and coming down to rest, only to repeat the process again and again. Their loud chipping song accompanied this aerial dance – probably a courting ritual – that none of us had ever seen before.” (GOS, June 1992)In fact, these may have been two males fighting over territory. Such confrontations are “frequently followed by ascending (rising through 2-3 m), head-to-head flight with rapid wing fluttering and bill-sparring,” according to Alex Middleton in his profile for The Birds of North America. “Birds are usually separated by a few centimeters, but they may grapple in flight.” (BNA, 334: 11)“None of our native sparrows except the Song sparrow is more familiar than the Chippy, which is found everywhere in New York about the farmyard, the garden, the orchard and in the groves and parks, but more particularly near the habitations of men,” Eaton wrote in the early 1900s. (Eaton II:308-9)That assessment still holds true today. Background
This is one of North America’s most common and widely distributed migrant songbirds, breeding across most of Canada and the United States and into Mexico and Central America, in open woodlands, at the edges of forest openings, in brushy or weedy fields and in towns and gardens, especially preferring to nest in conifers. Greatly increased in numbers and range during European settlement in early to mid 1800s as forest was cleared for agriculture. Declined in early 1900s because of competition from House Sparrows and increased parasitism from Brown-headed Cowbirds. Reforestation of abandoned farmland has also reduced some of its habitat. However it is probably more abundant and widely distributed now than before European settlement. Residential and suburban habitats, “with their ornamental conifers and shrubs, mixed with open grassy spaces, provide ideal breeding habitat.” Males wander from their territories during the breeding season; some studies suggest this species is less monogamous than previously thought, with both sexes seeking extra-pair copulations. Continental population appears stable overall based on BBS data. (BNA 334: 1, 3, 12, 14, 22-23)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as an abundant summer resident in Monroe and Livingston counties, and common in Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of 15 to 25 birds, with a maximum count of 200, on dates ranging from 22 March to 6 November.In 1953, Leo Tanghe listed this as an abundant breeding bird in the Rochester area, specifically listing Durand-Eastman and Powder Mills parks as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common summer resident and an occasional, very rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a sporadic very rare winter visitant, a (presumably regular fairly common) spring and fall transient and a regular common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 17 March to 29 April, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 4 to 20 April. One 15 March 1986 west lakeshore was an earlier arrival. (KB 36: 152)
Spring maxima: 35 on 3 May 1986 (Reinhardt, C. Cass) Rochester. (GOS, August 1986)
Summer/breeding status: This species is well-adapted in our area to suburban lawns with bushes or trees, to parks, to expressway interchanges where clumps of pines or other evergreens are scattered across open spaces. The BBA projects confirmed or found probable breeding in almost every block assigned to our region.

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)

Clay-colored Sparrow

Spizella pallida
If you were to pick a suitable location for our region’s first documented breeding of Clay-colored Sparrow, where might it be? Probably not amid the suburban yards at the end of Babcock Drive in Brighton. And yet, that’s exactly where Julie Claffey heard an adult bird singing its distinctive, buzzy, insect-like song on 7 July 1972, and saw it feeding two – possibly three – immature birds. During the next nine days more than 20 birders came to observe the family. “The first few days, the adult sparrow sang most often near a buzzing power line,” Claffey noted. Given this sparrow’s song – a “series of 2 to 8 low, flat buzzes that have a remarkably nonbirdlike quality” (Andrle, p. 440) – this led Claffey to wonder “if this were a territorial response.”After five days the adult shifted its main perch away from the power line to the top of a small oak tree where “it would sometimes sing for over half an hour without stopping or changing its perch.” (GOS, July-September 1972)This species appears to be slowly, but surely establishing a breeding presence in our region, with eight blocks of probable or confirmed breeding in the latest Breeding Bird Atlas project. Background
This may be the most numerous songbird in low shrub communities of the northern prairies, especially in the southern parts of the Canadian prairie provinces, notes Richard Knapton in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. This is a direct result of human settlement and prevention of prairie fires, which has “almost completely modified” the original mixed grassland prairies and replaced them with aspen bluffs and extensive stands of snowberry and silverberry. “It is in these low shrub communities that Clay-colored Sparrows reach their highest densities.” This species expanded its breeding range to the east and north starting in the early 1900s, and now nests in central and southern Ontario Province, and as far east as extreme southern Quebec. Much of this expansion has occurred in areas that were logged over, and in abandoned farmland and Christmas tree plantations. But it is declining in some areas where shrub has been cleared for agriculture and urban development. (BNA 120: 1-2, 12)
Local history
Edson marveled that one would end up “so far east of its normal range” in the prairies when it appeared near the tennis courts in Webster Park on 28 May –1 June 1960. (WBR, 6 June 1960) It was our first regional record. Allen Kemnitzer and Warren Lloyd found it. “The observers’ attention was first directed to the bird by its peculiar, rasping song,” Howard Miller reported. (KB10: 61) “Several other observers had ample opportunity to carefully study the bird at leisure at close range and to listen to its distinctive song. Although the bird is new to this region, its identification seems irrefutable.”One seen by John Foster, Al Maley and Tom Tetlow on 29 June 1963 was singing in a field on the ridge between Canadice and Honeoye lakes. Observed until 7 July, it was the second in our region, and one of five reports of singing males statewide that summer. “This sudden rash of Clay-colored sparrow reports may be the result of more field work being done by more observers,” John Brown suggested, “but it may also mean that the species is extending its range to the east.” (KB 13: 205, 210; BA, 11 July 1963).Another was just west of Shore Acres 4-10 July 1965 (KB 15: 232), after which this species was recorded all but two years through 1972. “This bird is appearing locally more regularly than the other two mid-western sparrows, the Lark and Harris’,” Miller observed in 1969. (KB19: 151) “The increase in New York as a migrant within the two decades (1950-1971) was most likely the result of the species extending its breeding range eastward into Ontario and ultimately into this state,” Bull (1974) noted. (Bull, p. 583) There was only one sighting reported in the Kingbird between 1972 and 1986; since 1989, however, this species has been reported almost every year.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as an occasional, very rare visitant. Now a regular, very rare summer resident.
Occurrence
Nearly half of the 50-odd records for Region 2 have been in May. The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 3 May to 20 October. One on 1 May 1986 (R. Dobson) in Greece appears to have been record early. (KB 36:150)

Summer/breeding status:The first successful New York breeding record occurred in summer 1971 in a Scotch pine Christmas tree plantation near Alfred. (Bull, p. 585) Then came Claffey’s family in 1972. There was no evidence of breeding in Region 2 during the first Breeding Bird Atlas project (1980-1985). However, during the second project sightings of two birds each were reported from Warsaw, Pittsford, Penfield and Parma in June 2003, which turned out to be a “banner year for the appearance of breeding pairs” in our region. (GOS, September 2003) Breeding was confirmed in three blocks and was probable in five others assigned to our region. Three of these blocks were in southeastern Monroe County, in and around Powder Mills Park and along the south edge of Mendon Ponds Park. Statewide, the number of blocks with evidence of breeding more than doubled, suggesting this species is slowly but surely establishing itself in New York.Most authorities believe this expansion is coming not from the west but from the Ontario population.

Fall:  Only three September and three October records. One on 20 October 1981 (Griffith) at Lakeshore School in Greece appears to have been record late (KB 32:42) until . . .
Winter: One from 17 December 2006 to 2 January 2007 (R. Spahn et al) was at a feeder in Parma. (LG, February, March 2007)

Field Sparrow

Spizella pusilla
“Wherever the Indigo bird and Chewink find a convenient home, here the Field sparrow will be plentiful,” Eaton (1914) observed. “What the Vesper sparrow is to the wide grassy fields, the Field sparrow is to the brushy hillside, pouring forth his pensive strain both in the morning and at the close of day, and inspiring the passerby to gentler and more humanizing reflections.” (Eaton II: 310-311)This birder, looking for Red-headed Woodpeckers, instead was serenaded by several of these birds in July 2006 while walking Roots Tavern Road south of Avon, in the narrow shrub line that separated the road from the famous oak-opening field to the south. He also heard them singing along the Lake Ontario State Parkway in Kendall, where trees and shrubs separated the shoulder from the adjoining farm fields.   Background
This songster of brushy pastures and second-growth scrub can be found across most of the United States from the Plains states eastward, and can be a year-round resident over much of its range. Nests in early spring are located on or near the ground in grass clumps or at the bases of shrubs, but are built higher in small saplings and shrubs as ground cover gets taller; pairs renest rapidly if nests are lost to predation. Highest breeding densities are in Missouri, Kentucky and Ohio. This species was probably at its greatest abundance in the late 1800s, after the felling of eastern forests, but before the increases in woodland, agriculture and suburban development. Though by no means threatened, this species appears to be declining in numbers as shrubby old fields revert to forest or are cleared for agriculture or development. (BNA 103: 1, 13)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed it as a common summer resident in Monroe, Livingston and Wayne counties. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to four birds, with a maximum count of 20, on dates ranging from 22 March to 20 October. Three winter records: January 1920, December 1936 and 9 January 1937.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 330 times, trailing seven other sparrows in overall frequency of occurrence. It trailed Song, Chipping, Swamp and Savannah among the most frequently encountered summer sparrows, showing up on 83 of 259 June-August lists within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)Nonetheless, in 1953, Tanghe considered this an abundant nesting species in the Rochester area, specifically listing the Burroughs-Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and West Henrietta as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)     Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common summer resident and an irregular, rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular rare to uncommon winter visitant and a regular common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 5 March (1970) to 19 April, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 31 March (1953) to 11 April.
   Spring maxima:   60 on 28 April 1978 (M. Carlson, F. Carey) at Letchworth SP. (LG, May 1978)
Summer/breeding status: The first BBA found evidence of breeding throughout the region. Most of the decline in number of blocks during the second project, not surprisingly, was in western Monroe County where development pressures have been severe.

Fox reports it can be found in fields and hay lots throughout Livingston County. (Fox, p. 91)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 29 September to 26 November, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 15 October to 4 November.
    Fall maxima:    50 on 15 September 1970 (Foster) at Lima. (GNR)    30 on 12 October 1969 (Cornell, Foster) at LeRoy. (GOS, December 1969)   40 on 14 October 2005 (Zettel) at Rush. (LG, December 2005)
Winter: One in a swamp at Durand-Eastman Park on 1 January 1920 was the first recorded here in winter, Edson reported. (“Starlings Again Reported,” D&C, 14 January 1920)Now, it is not unusual to find at least one or two of these birds lurking somewhere in the region during the winter months. Four, in fact, were reported on 28 December 1957 (Kemnitzer) near Hemlock Lake and another two to three until 4 January 1958 at Durand Eastman Park after a mild December. (KB 8: 14) Four on 2 January 1966 (Listman et al) were at Conesus Lake (KB16: 101); five were at a feeder from 1 February to 31 March 1973 (J. and A. Foster) in Lima. (KB23: 90) Indeed, Region 2 Kingbird reports mention January or early February sightings of this species in at least 17 of 30 years from 1976 to 2005.
    Winter maxima:    8 on 25 December 1970 Rochester CBC. (KB 21:79)    8 on 1 January 1987 (Davids, D. Tetlow) at Conesus Lake. (LG, February 1987)    9 on 28 January 1980 (R. Clark) at Letchworth SP. (LG, February 1980)

Fox Sparrow

Passerella iliaca
Leaves flying up from behind a clump of violets in his wildflower garden caught Frank Dobson’s eye during the spring of 1986. “From the actions, leaves flying every which way, I thought it might be an early rufous-sided towhee.” It wasn’t. The bird that finally popped into view was a Fox Sparrow, the first he had seen in his yard in several years. “What a beautiful bird!” was Dobson’s reaction at this pleasant surprise. (Birds, 4 May 1986) Indeed, “possibly none of our sparrows gives the bird student quite the thrill that the fox sparrow does,” Edson noted in 1939. “The large size and bright rufous and cinnamon brown coloration is so similar to that of the red fox as to give its name to the fox sparrow. These features in combination with the fact that he is seldom seen here in the numbers of many of the other sparrows rather gives us a thrill when we see one or more of these birds scratching about among the dead leaves in some woodland patch or around the edges of shrubbery in the parks. For so small a bird he can move a lot of leaves in a surprising short period.” (WBR, 25 September 1939) So it is not hard to understand Kinsley Whittum’s elation after leading an RBA field trip to the East Lakeshore Marshes on 2 April 2006. Walking a trail towards the lake in the Black Creek Unit, “we found an active group of birds moving back and forth across the path. . . We proceeded to watch six to eight Fox Sparrows at close range bathing in a puddle with the sun at our backs. . . it doesn’t get any better than this! They were singing a beautiful warbling type song that is among the most enjoyable sparrow songs I’ve ever heard!” (LG, May 2006)      Background
This common but shy inhabitant of streamside thickets and dense chaparral is among the most variable of all our birds, showing differences in plumage, song, habitat preference, and migratory distances among the various populations across its breeding range, which extends from Alaska across boreal northern Canada and south through the mountainous regions of the western U.S. For example, plumage ranges from reddish and gray of the Red Fox Sparrow of the north and east, to the dark-brown, sooty appearance of the Sooty Fox Sparrow of Alaska and British Columbia. Western birds tend to have more buzzy trills and fewer clear whistled notes in their songs. This species winters primarily along rivers and coastal areas in southeast U.S. west into the Southwest, and along the Pacific Coast. Human disturbance does not appear to have a negative impact on this species. (BNA 715: 1-2, 13, 21-22)
Local history
Eaton (1910) lists this as a fairly common transient in Monroe and Wayne counties, also occurring in Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to 10 birds in spring, with a maximum count of 25, on dates ranging from 10 March to 20 June. In fall, average counts of one to three were the norm, with a maximum of four, on dates ranging from 13 September to 11 November.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 118 times, making it one of the least frequently encountered sparrows. The vast majority of sightings (87) were in spring when average counts of 7-10 were reported. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, uncommon to fairly common spring and fall transient and an occasional, rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a sporadic rare winter visitant and a (presumably regular) uncommon to rare spring and fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 4 March to 15 April, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 21 March to 3 April. In most years had departed by 16 May, with a late departure date of 20 June.         Spring maxima:       25 on 31 March 2005 (mob) at Braddock Bay, part of a memorable passerine movement when the “flood gates opened” for a delayed spring migration. (LG, May 2005)      21 on 8 April 2003 (Czech) Webster. (GNR)    204 on 8 April 2007 (D. Tetlow) Parma to Carlton when record snowfall forced grounded migrants to bare roadsides. (LG, June 2007)      20 on 10 April 1999 (Sherony, G. Chapin) at Island Cottage Woods. (GNR)      22 on 15 April 1989 (R. Spahn) along the west lakeshore. (GOS, September 1989)      35 on 17 April 1963 (Moon et al) at the hawk lookout, Manitou. (GNR)      28 on 20 April 1966 (mob) at Highland Park, west lakeshore. (GNR)
    Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 25 August to 23 October, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 22 September to 9 October.      In most years had departed by 10 November, with a late departure date of 27 November (1976). Subsequently, one until 30 November 2005 (B. and B. Powell) at Irondequoit lingered even later. (LG, January 2006) Also see winter records below.
Fall maxima:    20 on 18 October 1959 (Lloyd et al) at Island Cottage. (KB 9:163)    16 on 23 October 1955 (Listman, O’Hara, Van Beurden) at Island Cottage. (GOS, April-December 1955)    22 on 16 November 2006 (D. Tetlow) at Durand-Eastman Park. (LG, February 2007)
Winter: Every few years an individual is reported wintering. The first December record occurred in 1932. (“Fox Sparrow Observed in City Month Behind Schedule,” D&C, 19 December 1932) One to two overwintered at Durand-Eastman Park and were still there on 4 and 11 February 1951 (GOS, January/March 1951) and Listman found another one there 15 January 1955. (GOS, January/March 1955) Another 5 January 1961 (R. Dobson) was at a Greece feeder (KB11: 48); two were at a feeder on 9 February 1963 (Lloyd) at Union Hill, Webster (KB13: 107), and another on 16 January 1972 (J. and R. Ambrose) was at Conesus Lake. (KB22: 88) Region 2 Kingbird reports mention January or early February sightings of this species in eight of 30 years from 1976 to 2005.
Misc.
A “slate-colored” form of Fox Sparrow was reported 7-8 December 2003 (R. and S. Spahn) at Hamlin Beach SP. (KB54: 150) This was of more than passing interest, since this race may, in fact, eventually be split off as a separate species. (BNA 715: 5)

American Tree Sparrow

Spizelloides arboreaformerly Spizella arborea
Frank Dobson liked to tie an old Christmas tree to the trunk of a sycamore in his Greece yard, to provide some extra cover for the birds that winter there. “Even after a snowfall, the ground is almost bare under it and that makes a good place to throw some seed mix.” Among his favorite visitors that took advantage of this feeding spot were American Tree Sparrows. “I always get a kick out of the way they stir things up by scratching at the seed. With rusty caps, white wingbars, two-toned bills and dark stick-pin on light breasts, they are attractive birds, very sleek, quick and deliberate in their movements.” (Birds, 19 February 1984)
Background
The soft, tinkling notes brighten a cold day when these winter visitors pop up in a stand of tall weeds. “Tree” sparrow is a misnomer, since many of these birds breed north of the treeline in Alaska and Canada, favoring scrubby areas, thickets, stunted spruce and open tundra. On their wintering grounds they have been known to beat at weeds with their wings to dislodge seeds, then fly down onto the snow to retrieve them. This is an abundant species, nesting in remote, undisturbed regions, and well adapted to human settlements and feeding stations in winter, and appears to be in no immediate danger. (BNA 37: 1-3, 9)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as an abundant winter visitor in Livingston County, and common in Monroe and Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of five to 20 birds, with a maximum count of 140, on dates ranging from 16 September to 10 May.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 610 times, placing it fourth among the sparrow tribe in overall frequency of occurrence; it was the most frequently encountered in winter, with average counts of 30 to 50 in late December and early February. Most sightings occurred October through the third week in April; there were no sightings June through August. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common to very common winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular very common winter visitant.
Occurrence
Fall/winter: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 16 September to 3 November, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 10 to 21 October.
Maxima: 1,207 on 22 December 1968 on the Conesus-Hemlock-Honeoye Lakes (“Little Lakes”) CBC. (KB 19: 104) 1,265 on 29 December 1968 on the Rochester CBC (KB 19:104) 806 on the Letchworth-Silver Lake CBC on 19 December 1981. (KB 32:116) 600 on 3 January 1971 (Madden) at Livonia. (Fox, p. 91) 400 on 3 January 1977 (A. and J. Foster) at Nations Road (Fox, p. 91) 350 on 11 January 1981 (F. and R. Dobson) west lakeshore. (GOS, March 1981) 400 on 18 January 1976 (Dobsons, Tanghe) west lakeshore. (GOS, March 1976) 600+ on 21 January 2007 (D. Tetlow, Davids, Fox) Nunda. (LG, March 2007) 500 on 4 February 1990 (P. and J. Spindler, R. Spahn, McKinney) at Hamlin. (GOS, April 1990) Bob McKinney, compiler of the Little Lakes CBC suggested in 1992 that this species was experiencing a decline in numbers (GOS, February 1992), and poor numbers had become “typical of most recent winters,” noted the Goshawk in March 1995. Data from all the region’s Christmas Bird Counts appear to back up those observations.

Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 13 April to 31 May (1954), with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 25 April to 6 May. However, one at Scottsville on 3 June 1974 (J. and S. Skelly) was later. (GNR)
Misc.
Banded bird: One banded on 14 November 1986 at Clarkson was found dead sometime the following February near Wattsburg, Pennsylvania, which is about 125 miles southwest of Clarkson. (LG, January 1988)

Dark-eyed Junco

(formerly Slate-colored Junco)Junco hyemalis
Veteran birders had never seen anything like it that morning of 22 October 1977 at Hamlin Beach SP. The juncos were “everywhere – on the ground, in the low bushes and higher in the trees,” John Brown reported. “The flight was apparently a massive migration movement as it seemed to thin out noticeably as the day wore on.” (BA, 26 October 1977) Though an accurate count was impossible, 2,250 was the number eventually reported in the Kingbird. (KB 28:41) Birders will more often encounter small groups of these sparrows, which venture a few feet into a cleared area from the brushy edge of a woodlot, then fly twittering back into cover when alarmed, white outer tail feathers flashing.
Background
This classic “snowbird” looks like gray clouds above, white snow below. It is a common, familiar member of the sparrow family, numbering as many as 630 million, according to one estimate. It breeds from Alaska across most of Canada, through much of the western U.S. into Mexico and also in the Great Lakes region, northeast U.S. and south along the Appalachians. It winters through most of the rest of the country. It has had a “turbulent” taxonomy, and at one time was divided into five separate species: Slate-colored (the prevalent subspecies here), Oregon, Gray-headed, White-winged and Guadalupe. Usually nests on the ground in a variety of habitats. Most populations migrate, but this can be highly variable. (BNA 716: 1-2, 8, 25)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as an abundant transient in Monroe, Livingston and Wayne counties, and a fairly common (Monroe and Livingston) to uncommon (Wayne) winter visitor. (Eaton I: county charts) Alas, the cards recording sightings of this species before 1933 could not be found when R. E. Horsey set about listing the species seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936. Since, then, however, there had been average counts of one to 20 birds, with a maximum count of 500, on dates ranging from 6 September to 10 May, he reported.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 641 times, trailing only Song Sparrow (1,239) in the clan. It was reported primarily late September through mid May, with average tallies reaching 30 to 50 in April. It was the second most frequently encountered sparrow in winter. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)In his 1953 list of nesting birds in the Rochester area, Tanghe considered this a rare breeder, mentioning only Gannett Hill five miles north of Naples as a nesting location. (GOS, May/August 1953) Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common to very common winter visitant and a casual, rare summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular common to fairly common winter visitant and spring and fall transient and a regular fairly common summer resident.
Occurrence Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 20 July to 2 October, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 7 to 24 September. Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 13th with 726 birds taken from the nets. Fall maxim: 800 “in just an hour or two” on 5 October 1968 (Lloyd) Webster. (KB19: 28; BA, 10 October 1968) 500 on 14-15 October 1970 (Listman) at Manitou Beach. (GNR) 2,250+ on 22 October 1977 (RBA trip) at Hamlin Beach SP. (LG, November 1977) The 800 in 1968 were in a brushy field near Warren Lloyd’s home in Webster during a large movement of fall migrants that also included 300 White-crowned Sparrows, 80 White-throated Sparrows and more than 100 each of the two kinglet species. (BA, 10 October 1968; KB19: 28, GOS, December 1968)
Winter:

Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 26 April to 7 June, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 5 to 20 May. Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked last with 251 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima: 3,520 on 8 April 2007 (D. Tetlow) Parma to Carlton when record snowfall forced grounded migrants to bare roadsides. (LG, June 2007)
Summer/breeding status: At least as early as 1930 this species was known to breed locally throughout the Finger Lakes regions, in the “cool glens around Hemlock, Honeoye or Canandaigua lakes,” Horsey and Edson reported. (“Slate Junco First Winter Resident Bird to Move In” and “Junco Early and Warbler Late on Journey to South,” D&C, 29 September 1930 and 5 September 1932)A “definite breeding record” for our region was obtained 29 May 1955 when Bob McKinney and the Risings stopped at Poke O’Moonshine Gulf near Wayland. A “number of young juncos, fresh out of the nest, flew out of the brush.” McKinney managed to band two of them. (BA, 9 June 1955)A year later, Brown described a Genesee Ornithological Society field trip that explored the high elevation breeding areas in the southern part of our region, including “the back road that curves through a deep cut in a long, high ridge, the area known as Poke O’Moonshine.” It was like entering a different world, “a transplanted section of the North Woods. There, from the road where wooded slopes rise steeply on both sides, we could hear Slate-colored juncos, Black and white warblers and Hermit thrushes singing. All of these reportedly nest there…” (BA, 21 June 1956) Twenty were tallied on 3 July 1976 (Perrigo, Mattei) in the Honeoye area. (LG, August 1976) Bull (1974) found it interesting that breeding juncos were “virtually lacking on the Great Lakes lowland plain. There are apparently no breeding records for Niagara, Orleans, Genesee, Monroe or Wayne counties. In fact, northern breeding limits appear to extend no further than . . . Stony Brook Glen in Wyoming Co., and Gannett Hill in Ontario Co.” (Bull, p. 588) The BBA projects have tended to confirm that: Most breeding is found in the southern half of Livingston and Ontario counties, and perhaps even increasing there, with only scattered evidence of breeding on the lake plain.

At Letchworth SP this species can be found nesting on slopes, typically in a variety of mature woods and ravines, park naturalist Douglas Bassett notes. With this species breeding both to the south of the lakeplain and well to our north, it is not surprising that apparent wandering or nonbreeding individuals would turn up along the lakeplain, away from known breeding areas, during early July. For example: one on 2 July 1960 (Listman) was at Manitou (KB 10: 102) and one 5-25 July 1981 (Reister) was at Hilton (KB 31:240).
Misc.
“Oregon” Junco, formerly considered a separate species, is the most frequent out of range subspecies found here. First sighting apparently was one at the Burroughs-Audubon Sanctuary near Railroad Mills in February 1950, Edson reported. Attention was drawn to the bird by the fact that “the other juncos tried to chase it away.” (WBR, 13 February 1950)“During the last ten years, this species has been spreading eastward in winter and its occurrence at one or more locations in our region is reported almost annually,” usually from bird feeding stations, Kemnitzer noted. (WBR, 28 February 1966) In 1962, Edson had given the same frequency of appearances for the preceding 10 years. (WBR, 8 January 1962) Individuals were reported on four different dates, from four different locations, in April 1985. (GOS, June 1985) In addition, a Gray-headed Junco of the Rockies and southwest was found 24 November 1990 at Hamlin Beach SP by Dominic Sherony (LG, December 1990); another was there (R. Spahn) the following 9 February. (GOS, April 1991)

White-crowned Sparrow

Zonotrichia leucophrys
“That aristocrat of the sparrow world, the white-crowned sparrow, is back again for a short visit after an absence of nearly 20 weeks,” Edson noted in his Weekly Bird Report of 7 October 1935. “The adult with its black and white crown with the nape of the neck gray carries itself with all the chic which befits a crowned head. The young birds have the same carriage as the adults but the crowns instead of being black and white are rufous brown and pale grayish brown . . .”This handsome species is “one of our neatest and most elegant sparrows,” Eaton concurred. (Eaton, II:302)Which made it all the more baffling when a Webster resident began calling local birders to report a strange species showing up at his feeder in fall of 2006. He described it as a gray, “robin-sized” bird, gray above, light below, with a white stripe through the head. It was definitely larger than the run of the mill House Sparrows and House Finches, he noted.The birders were stumped by what they heard over the phone. However, when John Boettcher and his wife dropped by for a look, they found – you guessed it – three White-crowned Sparrows.
Background
This “elegant” sparrow breeds from Alaska south along the West Coast to California and along the Rockies into northwestern New Mexico, and also in a broad band across northern Canada to Newfoundland. Breeding habitat varies remarkably, from boreal forest and tundra, to alpine meadows, to the “margins of shopping center parking lots and ferry terminals in British Columbia and Washington.” However, this species generally requires some combination of bare ground, grass and shrubs. Genetic evidence suggests that White-crowned and Golden-crowned sparrows are sister species, having diverged about 50,000 years ago. These species diverged from White-throated Sparrow about 750,000 years ago, which diverged from Harris’ Sparrow about 1.2 million years ago. (BNA 183:2, 3, 5)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a common transient in Monroe County, fairly common in Wayne, and also occurring in Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to eight birds in spring, with a maximum count of 30, on dates ranging from 24 April to 30 May. In fall, average counts were one to five, again with a maximum of 30, on dates ranging from 25 August to 1 November.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 150 times, only about a third as often as White-throated Sparrow. Average counts ranged from 7-10 in spring to 10-20 in fall. Interestingly, there were no records during winter. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)Though it remains less common than White-throated Sparrow, it is a regular spring and fall migrant, and an increasing winter visitor. Isolated individuals even turn up in summer.        Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common to common spring and fall transient and a casual, rare summer visitant. Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular (formerly irregular) uncommon to rare winter visitant, and a regular fairly common to uncommon spring and fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 11 April to 17 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 30 April to 6 May. Subsequently one on 3 April 1992 (Browning) at Brighton was an earlier “first of spring.” (GOS, June 1992) Six on 15 March 1992 (Davids et al) along the west lakeshore may have been among the “surprising” number that apparently overwintered that year. (LG, April 1992)In most years had departed by 29 May, with a late departure date of 21 June. “In the spring, many White-crowned Sparrows migrate along the Ontario shore of Lake Erie, entering New York at Buffalo and continuing eastward toward Rochester,” Beardslee and Mitchell wrote. (B&M, p. 444)
     Spring maxima:      300 on 13 May 1978 (Perrigo) along the west lakeshore. (LG, June 1978)       200+ on 12 May 1997 (R. Spahn) at Island Cottage Woods, Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, and Riverside Cemetery. (GOS, July/August 1997)      200+ on 12 May 1998 (R. Spahn) at Island Cottage Woods, Holy Sepulchre Cemetery, and Riverside Cemetery. (GOS, July/August 1998)
Summer: Not known to breed in our area, however, stragglers occasionally remain into early and even mid summer. One was at Lake Road, Webster (McNetts, Kemnitzers) on 30 June 1958. (GNR) A “very belated” bird was at Manitou (Listman) from 25 June to 4 July 1962. (KB12: 148) Listman found one singing 24 June 1976 at Point Breeze. (KB26:216)Other July sightings include one 5 July 1981 (Davids) at Braddock Bay (KB31: 240) and 13 July 1993 (O’Hara) at Manitou. (KB43: 317) Birds banded at Manitou by C. and R. McKinney included individuals on 29-31 July 2004 (LG, September 2004); 12 July 2005 (LG, September 2005) and 2, 7 August 2004. (LG, October 2004)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 25 August to 9 October, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 21 September to 1 October. In most years had departed by 31 October, with a late departure date of 26 November.Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 23rd with 248 birds taken from the nets – or about 2.9 percent of the number of White-throated sparrows banded during the same time period!
     Fall maxima:        600+ on 27 September 1981 (RBA field trip) along the west lakeshore. (LG, October 1981)     1,200+ on 28 September 2005 (Davids, D. Tetlow) at Hogan Point. (KB 56:70)         300 on 5 October 1968 (Lloyd) at Webster. (GOS, December 1968)        250 on 28 September 1976 (R. Clark) at Hamlin Beach. (LG, October 1976)      Winter: There has been a dramatic change in this species’ status as a winter visitor during the last half century.One at a Greece feeder during the first week of March 1958 was the first winter sighting here, according to Edson. (WBR, 10 March 1958) However, an immature that appeared 17 January 1959 at the McNetts’ feeder just north of Irondequoit Bay and stayed through March was “our first winter record,” according to the Kingbird. (KB 9: 32)In any event, “until (the McNetts’ bird) two years ago the White-crowned Sparrow was unknown as a winter resident,” Howard Miller wrote in early 1961, after “no less than ten were reported (wintering), all but one from feeders or nearby.” (KB11: 47)  Twenty were at a Scottsville feeder the next winter. (KB12: 36) “The thing that sets this winter apart from all others in local memory is the unprecedented number of wintering White-crowned and White-throated sparrows,” Brown noted. (BA, 1 March 1962)“Formerly very rare in winter, but has greatly increased at this season in recent years,” Bull (1974) reported. (Bull, p. 590) It can now be found almost every winter in at least small numbers. In fact, this species was reported “often outnumbering” White-throated Sparrows during the winter of 1995-96. (KB 46:149)
       Winter maxima:           100-125 on 6, 12 and 21 January 2004 (R. and C. McKinney, D. Tetlow) at Leicester. (LG, March 2004)             60 on 17 January 2003 (D. Tetlow) at Retsof. (LG, March 2003)          112 on 22 February 2001 (D. Tetlow, Davids) at Leicester. (LG, May 2001)

Harris’s Sparrow

Zonotrichia querula
Most Rochester area birders would consider it the thrill of a lifetime to have even one Harris’s Sparrow show up at their feeder.Gerhard Leubner has had not one, but two – 35 years apart.The first appeared in April 1971.The second appeared 2 December 2006 in the company of House Sparrows. “The pink bill stuck out right away as something different,” Leubner noted. “I started looking in the (field guide) and quickly decided it was a Harris’ Sparrow.” Leubner’s yard, backing up to a wooded gully near Durand-Eastman Park, has attracted any number of rarities over the years, which Leubner has either caught in his banding nets or observed at his feeder. His feeder, containing millet, sunflower and safflower seed, is an open platform on a pole. The second of his Harris’ Sparrow was erratic in its appearances, sometimes appearing for less than a minute. But it had shown up every day – until, as luck would have it, the day of the Rochester Christmas Bird Count, when rainy conditions apparently kept it away.Of course, it was back again the next morning!
Background
This strikingly patterned large sparrow is the only songbird that breeds entirely within Canada, to the north and west of Hudson Bay in areas where there is a mosaic of tree and tundra vegetation. They winter in the Central Great Plains. Males and females are virtually identical in plumage, and arrive on breeding territories at the same time. Their remote breeding areas and their preference on their wintering grounds for agricultural fields, weedy patches and pastures undergoing secondary succession suggest this species is unlikely to be adversely affected by human activities. (BNA 64: 1- 4)First “reliably” sighted in New York in 1951, there were at least 23 occurrences by the early 1970s, Bull noted. (Bull, p. 590) “An enormous increase of feeding stations in the state is directly responsible for a corresponding increase in a number of rarities, such as Harris’ Sparrow – no fewer than 16 recorded at feeders.” Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a sporadic, very rare visitant.
Occurrence
There have been nine records in our region, more than half of them visiting feeders. 1. Helen Foster saw one on 24 May 1953 in Wolcott and again a week later “as the bird followed after the plow picking up worms and grubs thus exposed,” Edson reported. It was apparently only the second sighting for all of western New York. (WBR, 9 June 1953) Edson couldn’t help wondering “if this bird could have gotten caught” in a storm and been “blown out of its normal range, thus landing so far from where it should be.” (Also listed in “Summary of 1953 Records,” GOS November-December 1953.) 2. One 11 May 1958 (Barlows) Island Cottage Woods (KB 8:48) 3. One 3-5 May 1964 (Miller, Starling) at a residence on Woodland Lane, Webster, had been coming to a feeder there since early in winter and “looked to be a young bird born last summer,” (KB 14:162; WBR, 11 May 1964; BA, 7 May 1964) 4. One 27 April 1971 (Leubner) at Irondequoit feeder. (KB 21:152) At 7:30 a.m., Gerhard Leubner “looked out his window at a feeding station and saw the unmistakable sparrow with the big, black bib, pink bill and streaked sides.” (BA, 29 April 1971) 5. One 2 January 1972 (Ambrose, R. Clark, Robertson) “with a large flock of other sparrows” at Lakeville along Conesus Lake during the Little Lakes CBC. (KB 22:88; Fox, p. 95) The bird had a “very pink bill, blackish-gray crown” and it “had black on its upper breast which extended to its ‘chin.’ The black under the bill was not solid, but rather splotchy, alternating with white,” Fox quotes from unpublished GOS records. One immature 17-19 October 1977 (KB 28:41) at a feeder maintained by the Reisters on Lake Shore Drive, Greece. (BA, 19 Oct 1977) Pat Reister first noticed the bird late in the afternoon on the 17th and immediately reached Walt Listman, who was there “in minutes.” Kevin Griffith also saw the bird that day. “The following two days 37 birders were able to observe the bird as it fed from the feeders and on the ground,” Pat noted. “It was a most co-operative bird. It flew off only briefly when someone entered the yard, then returned to show itself off.” (LG, November 1977) It was in the company of two White-Crowned Sparrows. 7. One 10 December 1994 (mob) through January 1995 near Perry (KB 45:115) frequenting the feeder of Bill and Pat Krugher. (LG, January 1995) One adult 8 January 2005 (D. Tetlow, Davids) Hamlin Beach SP. (KB 55:172; LG, March 2005) One 2 December 2006 to 9 May 2007 at Leubner’s Irondequoit feeder. (LG, February, July-August 2007) By the last part of April, the bird was changing into breeding plumage, Leubner reported, showing lots of black on the head and throat. By that time, more than 90 birders had come to see it, from as far away as Boston, New York City and Ohio.

White-throated Sparrow

Zonotrichia albicollis
John Brown had a special affinity for this songbird. It stemmed from “having run away one sparkling day in late April from one of those great domestic injustices that sometimes complicate the life of a 10-year-old.” He took sanctuary under a blooming forsythia hedge. “As I lay there alone on the cool ground, a White-throat flew in, alighted on a twig about two feet away and poured out its ineffably sweet, sad song, a series of pure, liquid notes whistled in a minor key that melted softly into the spring morning.”“Transfixed, scarcely daring to breathe, I listened and watched as that small bird went through its throat-swelling, soul-healing melody again and again.” (BA, 30 July 1970) It is not surprising that a White-throated Sparrow would be the bird to comfort the distraught boy in late April. “For about a month during the height of each migration White-throated Sparrows fairly swarm through the countryside,” Beardslee and Mitchell observed. (B&M, p. 444) A whistled Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody then is often heard; even in fall, the loud “chip” is easily recognizable.
Background
These familiar migrants and feeder birds come in two color phases – white-striped and tan-striped – and these birds almost always choose a mate of the opposite color phase. Pairings of white-striped males/tan-striped females tend to outnumber tan-striped male/white-striped female pairs about 2:1. Behavioral differences are associated with the different color phases, and the sexes of each. White-striped males, for example, are more aggressive but provide less care for their young. Tan-striped females compensate by being less territorial but providing the most care to young. This species nests on or just above the ground in coniferous and mixed forests, especially those with numerous openings with low, dense vegetation, across much of Canada to the tree line, back through the Great Lakes and into the northeastern U.S. Population is conservatively estimated at 10-20 million pairs in North America, but BBS data suggests this species is apparently declining throughout its range. “It is difficult to account for these trends,” Falls and Kopachena note in their profile of this species for The Birds of North America. This species “tends to increase as forest opens up and to decrease as it closes . . .” (BNA 128: 1, 3, 6, 22)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as an abundant transient in Monroe County, and common in Livingston and Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of four to 25 birds in spring, with a maximum count of 500, on dates ranging from 4 April to 7 June. In fall, average counts of three to 20 birds had been reported, with a maximum of 200, on dates ranging from 5 September to 26 November. When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported 462 times, making it the fifth most frequently recorded sparrow. It was seen primarily as a migrant – 167 records during the first three weeks of May, another 88 the last half of September through October – with highest average tallies of 30-50 in fall. However, it was also reported 25 times during January and the first half of February. (KB 5:69: 7A-7B)This did not make Tanghe’s 1953 list of birds breeding in the Rochester area. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common to very common spring and fall transient; a regular, uncommon winter visitant and an irregular, rare summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular uncommon to rare winter visitant, a regular fairly common to uncommon spring and fall transient and a sporadic rare summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 1 March to 26 April, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 11 to 20 April. In most years had departed by 29 May, with a late departure date of 8 June.“White-throated sparrows were unbelievably abundant,” John Brown wrote after an influx of migrants in late April 1956. “They seemed to be everywhere, even turning up at unlikely points in the city. A single count in the Braddock Bay area reached an estimated 1,000.” (BA, 3 May 1956) Though banded less often in spring than fall, this species still ranked 9th out of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, with 1,272 birds taken from the nets. Also, 75 were banded there (Brooks, G. Jones) on 10 May 1996. (GOS, July/August 1996)Other spring maxima: 2,500 recorded by Walt Listman on 30 April 1960 at Manitou (KB10: 61) “is probably the greatest number of this species ever seen here by a single observer.”
Summer/breeding status: By 1974 this sparrow had expanded its breeding range from traditional Adirondacks and Catskills nesting areas into lower elevations in central and eastern New York. (Bull, pp. 593-595) One reported singing in Bergen Swamp by McKinney on 10 July 1954 (GOS, May/August 1954) was considered “very unusual.” (KB 4:77) Nesting was first reported there in 1967 (Bull, p. 595; KB 19:216) and was reported there again in 1975. (KB25:216) Five were tallied there by an RBA field that year on 12 July. (LG, August 1975) For many years this was the only site in our region where it was known to nest.It has since been confirmed at Letchworth SP, though it is scarce there, and is suspected of breeding elsewhere in the southern highlands. The Breeding Bird Atlas projects indicate this species’ breeding presence in our region remains limited, both along the lake plain and in the higher elevations to the south, with no indication it is increasing.

Nonbreeding summer visitors occasionally show up in unexpected locations, such as one at Manitou (Listman) on 19 July 1964 (GOS, September 1964) and one on 4 July, then again on 7 August in 1979 (C. Cass) at Brighton. (GNR) Another was at Parma (F. and R. Dobson) on 31 July 1983. (GNR) Two to four were at Zurich Bay (Genesee Ornithological Society trip, et al) from 7-21 July 1984 (GOS, September 1984) and two on 2 August 1975 (Ladwig) were at Island Cottage. (LG, September 1975) Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 1 to 30 September, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 12 to 19 September. Subsequently, one on 12 August 2004 (Griffith) at Greece was an even earlier “First of fall” (GNR), tied by another “First of fall” on 12 August 2006 (Lawrence) at Greece. (LG, October 2006)In most years had departed by 8 November, with a late departure date of 25 November but many winter sightings. “This species is probably the most numerous sparrow on migration,” Bull (1974) observed (Bull, p. 592); indeed, more are banded at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory than any other species, according to Elizabeth Brooks, especially in fall. In all but one year from 2000 to 2005, for example, it was the fall songbird most frequently banded, with totals ranging from 867 (or 21 percent of total birds banded) in 2002 to 1,565 (33 percent of the total) the year before. (It was edged out by a Black-capped Chickadee movement in 2001.) From 5-8 October 1993, for example, the banding station was deluged with White-throated Sparrows, with 432 banded. (GOS, December 1993) Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked first with 8,511 birds taken from the nets. Fall maxima: 1,500 on 28 September 1976 (R. Clark) at Hamlin Beach. (LG, October 1976) 1,000 on 22 September 1977 (Perrigo) at Hamlin Beach SP. (LG, October 1997) 500+ on 4 October 1997 (S. and R. Spahn) at Hamlin Beach SP. (GOS, December 1997) 500+ on 15 October 2000 (R. and S. Spahn) along the west lakeshore. (GNR) 900+ on 22 October 1977 (RBA trip) at Hamlin Beach SP. (LG, November 1977)
Winter: It was once considered a rarity here in winter. Horsey (1937) listed only two occurrences: One winter of 1930-1931, and another “all winter” of 1932-33. (See also WBR, 12 January 1937) Indeed, the one found 17 December 1930 in a swamp near the Float Bridge by Romel and Miller was “the most interesting bird noted during the week,” Horsey and Edson reported in their weekly bird column. They speculated the sparrow may have suffered “some slight injury which prevented it from moving on with the flock.” It was “our latest fall date for this species.” At that time, a few were known to winter in the southeastern part of the state, but only rarely in western New York. (“Winter Traps White-throated Sparrow on Its Way to South,” D&C, 22 December 1930)However, several were wintering in Durand-Eastman Park during the 1950-51 season. (Kingbird 1: 2: 34) As noted above, when Leo Tanghe analyzed sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported no less than 25 times in January and early February within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. During January 1981, “the snow is knee-deep, yet we can go birding on any given day and be assured of counting scores of Robins and dozens of White-throats,” noted Steve Taylor. “The presence of these birds is of immeasurable aid to us in making it through this winter. Their demeanor and apparent state of health, and the beauty and crispness of their rich colors against the whites and grays of winter, remind us that we too can do more than just survive the winter, we can enjoy it.” (LG, January 1981)Wintering birds continue to be found regularly.

Other winter maxima: 16 on 12 January 1979 (M. Tetlow) at Hamlin Beach SP. (LG, February 1979) 15 on 14 January 1978 (Genesee Ornithological Society hike) at Mendon Ponds. (GOS, March 1978) 50 on 18 January 2004 (Grosshans, D. Henderson) at Nations Road. (LG, March 2004)

Vesper Sparrow***

Pooecetes gramineus
“On clear evenings in May and early June if one walks into the country and takes one’s station near some crossroad, the song of the Vesper sparrow may often be heard in a dozen different directions at the same time; first one individual from a near-by fence post takes up the refrain, followed by another farther in the field standing upon a clod of earth, another farther off on top of a small tree, still farther one from a fence rail, and so in every direction near and far,” Eaton (1914) observed. “The song will be repeated, the farthermost sending only the two higher notes to the ear of the listener. Such a concert is really inspiring if one will take the trouble to stop and listen.” (Eaton II: 286)This species immediately came to mind when this birder looked at aerial photographs of his Greece neighborhood from 1930, when the Dewey/Latta area was a patchwork of farm fields and apple orchards. Could he have stood at that “crossroad” in 1930 and heard the chorus of Vesper Sparrows that Eaton so eloquently described? Quite likely.But not anymore. Those farm fields are long gone, replaced with subdivisions where even a single a Vesper Sparrow would be a noteworthy sighting indeed.
Background
“Across grasslands, open valleys, and arid steppes, the beauty and exuberance of the setting sun is often matched by Vesper Sparrows, as they fill the evening with sweet song while affirming the passing day and appealing for safe passage through the coming night,” observe Stephanie Jones and John Cornely in their profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. This species breeds in dry, open habitats with short, sparse, patchy cover from British Columbia east to Nova Scotia, and south to southern California, New Mexico, southern Illinois and West Virginia. This species benefited from the clearing of eastern forests by European settlers, but is now undergoing a dramatic decline in the east as abandoned farmland reverts to forest. Conversion of pastures to row-crop agriculture, suburban development, loss of hedgerows, nest parasitism and frequent mowing have also contributed to its decline. In the Midwest it relies on row crops and adjacent uncultivated lands; in the West it continues to be common in shrub steppe and open rangeland. This species is one of the first to occupy reclaimed mine sites and colonizes other new areas swiftly when habitat becomes suitable. (BNA 624: 1- 3, 5, 17)
Local history Eaton (1910) considered this an abundant summer resident in Monroe County and common in Livingston and Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to four birds, with a maximum count of 30, on dates ranging from 16 March to 28 October. Edson, in 1953, noted that this species “prefers the dusty roadside of the lesser used dirt roads and they are often killed by speeding cars as they take their dust baths, like chickens, in the road dust.” (WBR, 6 April 1953)When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951 to 1954, this species was reported only 247 times overall, placing it ninth among the sparrows in overall frequency of occurrence, and sixth among the sparrows seen in summer. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)Even so, in 1953 Tanghe considered this an abundant nester in places as diverse as the Bergen Swamp area and Summerville. (GOS, May/August 1953) That is no longer true.By 1978, when an RBA field trip found one of these birds singing along Nations Road, John Brown felt compelled to take note in his bird column. “In former years this bird was such a common nester in this region that finding one would be scarcely worthy of mention. Now, however, like the Bluebird and Redhead, it seems to have fallen on evil times and is no longer a commonplace bird.” (BA, 28 June 1978)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, uncommon to fairly common summer resident and a casual, rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a casual winter visitant and a regular fairly common (formerly very common) summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 4 March (1962) to 6 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 27 March to 5 April. Foster, Maley and Miller had the record early bird on 4 March 1962 in Mendon. (GNR)A spectacular spring flight of birds, apparently migrating, was noted 15-16 April 1961 when “hundreds must have present along the lakeshore for those two days,” Howard Miller noted. (KB11: 102)
Spring maxima: 12 on 31 March 1962 (Listman) Braddock Bay. (KB 12:36) 129 on 8 April 2007 (D. Tetlow) Parma to Carlton when record snowfall forced grounded migrants to bare roadsides. (LG, June 2007) 70+ on 20 April 1983 (Lloyd, W. Foster) Wayne County. (GNR) 20 on 16 April 1978 (M. Carlson) Hamlin. (LG, May 1978)
Summer/breeding status: Few would dispute that this species has declined. However, the true extent of this decline is difficult to trace, illustrating the potential pitfalls of relying on anything less than systematic surveying to document bird numbers. For example, a “great scarcity” of this species was reported during the spring of 1975 (KB25: 155); that summer it was deemed a “disaster species.” (KB 25:214) “Vesper Sparrows are completely gone from most former breeding areas on the lake plain, but are a little better in the hilly land south of Rochester,” Richard O’Hara commented the following summer. (KB26: 216) He speculated that “perhaps more intensive cultivation of land is a factor in their sudden decline here.” And yet, probable breeding was found in 26 blocks in Monroe County alone during the first BBA project. (AL, p. 53) A “minor yet encouraging influx to once abandoned locales” was reported in 1983. (KB 33:188) This species was “quite easily located” by atlasers in suitable habitat in 1984 (KB 34:244), though at the end of the project, in 1985, Kevin Griffith noted that this species “appeared to be faring much better away from the lakeshore.” (KB35: 264) And again, in 2003, participants in the second BBA project found Vesper Sparrows to be “widespread, including in many Blocks on the Lake Plain, where they have been scarce in the recent past.” (GOS, September 2003) One possible explanation: perhaps crop rotation forces this species to relocate away from traditional birding hotspots, going unnoticed until the BBA forces birders to look there. Even so, the second project found no evidence of breeding in large sections of Monroe and the western half of Wayne counties. The heaviest concentration of blocks was in Livingston County –especially the more heavily cultivated northern half – into eastern Wyoming and Genesee counties.

Nations Road, with a recent estimate of five to eight breeding pairs (Burger and Liner, p. 83), and the east side of Letchworth SP are particularly reliable breeding locations, where these birds can be found singing from prominent perches in hedgerows adjoining fields that have plenty of bare dirt rather than thick mats of dead grass. “Wheat fields or old cornfields with exposed dirt seem to be ideal,” Fox notes. (Fox, p. 92) Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 27 September to 15 November, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 13 October to 1 November. One on 16 November 1967 (Listman) at Kendall was even later. (GNR) See also winter records below.
Winter: Very rarely found in winter. Two “spent most of February and early March” at the Whites’ feeder in Mendon during the record snowfall of 1959-1960 (KB10:25); another was at the Munsons’ feeder 29 December 1963 to 9 March 1964 in Penfield the same winter that Listman had one at Conesus Lake on 29 December and yet another was near Hamlin Beach SP (J. Foster) on 11 January. (KB 14: 100) Region 2 Kingbird reports mention January or early February sightings of this species in only two of 30 years from 1976 to 2005, including one on 14 January 1995 (D. and D. Traver) at Sodus. (GOS, March 1995)

Le Conte’s Sparrow

Ammodramus leconteii
“Leconte’s sparrow is the surprise visitor of the week,” Edson reported in September 1943. “This little sparrow is mostly found west of the Mississippi and northward into Canada, but very infrequently one or two individuals are found in our grassy swamps during migration. “It is quite possible that it would be seen much more frequently if it were less shy, because if flushed it dives into the grasses or sedges and refuses to show itself a second time,” he added. “The two birds reported last week were seen on the border of a small pond east of the B.R. & P. railroad and south of Brooks Avenue.” (WBR, 13 Sept 1943) Little has changed in the years since. It is quite likely that these birds pass through our region every year. However, as the paucity of records suggests, finding them is something else again. Background
This is an elusive, buffy-faced inhabitant of wet grasslands and marshes of central and southern Canada and extreme north-central U.S., with additional, patchy, widely separated breeding areas to the east in Ontario and Quebec provinces. These birds rarely flush, instead preferring to creep about “like mice under mats of grass;” one observer found that only 8 of 86 singing males could be found on perches exposed enough to provide an identifiable view. So elusive is Le Conte’s that “Knowledge of this species tends to be more anecdotal than authoritative,” notes Peter Lowther in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. “Almost any observation of Le Conte’s Sparrows can provide new information.” (BNA 224: 1, 2, 11)
Local history
Eaton (1914) considered this “purely an accidental visitant” in New York State, with only a single specimen taken, one at Ithaca in 1897. (Eaton II: 295) R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated this species had been recorded in only four of those years: 1918, 1919, 1920 and 1923, on dates ranging from 6 August to 11 September, with a maximum count of three.It is not clear if there were any other sightings prior to the one on 5 September 1943 decribed above.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a (formerly) sporadic, very rare fall visitant.
Occurrence
The Monroe County annotated list indicated no records since 5 September 1943. Prior to that, dates ranged from 2 August to 11 September.Apparently only about nine occurrences in our region. In addition to the five cited above up to 1943, more recent sightings in Region 2 include: 1. One 14 May 1983 (O’Hara, R. Dobson) at Carlton. (KB 33:191) 2. One 3 May 1994 (Bounds, mob) Braddock Bay. (KB 44:206; LG June/July 1994) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 46:298) 3. Two 13 October 1998 (Kimball, Fox) Nation’s Road. (KB 49:49) Accepted by NYSARC. (KB 52:308) Discovered by Kimball, who then called Fox. “Kimball and Fox studied it though a telescope as it popped up in response to the playing of a tape,” NYSARC noted. “The detailed description was strengthened by a careful analysis of the identification, ruling out look-alike species . . .” Salient points included light brown median crown stripe, obvious white eye-ring and dark eye stripe, comparatively small pinkish bill, dark scapulars edged with white, obvious white mantle braces and crisp streaks on breast but not the chin. 4. One 21 November 2001 (Davids, D. Tetlow, Griffith) Hamlin Beach SP. (KB 52:61) “Although this species breeds in southern Quebec, it remains a very rare spring and fall migrant through New York,” NYSARC noted. (KB 52:308) (NOTE: One was reportedly found on 11 May 1976 by Chip Perrigo near the west spit of Braddock Bay, and was then captured in one of two mist nets set up by bander Robert McKinney. “After banding it, he released the bird which returned to feeding in the same place it had been before, seemingly unperturbed,” John Brown reported. See BA, 12 May 1976. It was an immature bird. However, no record appears in the Little Gull, Goshawk or Kingbird.)

Nelson’s Sparrow

(Formerly Sharp-tailed Sparrow)Ammodramus nelsoni
Many local birders now associate this bird with Hogan Point and fall, thanks to Mike Davids’ dogged pursuit of these skulking migrants. However, they have also been found in spring. Indeed, one of the best views of this rare migrant may have occurred on 2 June 1956 along Island Cottage Road where it was reported by Dick O’Hara, Walt Listman and Howard Miller. One of the two birds found that day “posed on a grass hummock for nearly 15 minutes in full view of an observer only 30 or 40 feet away,” John Brown noted. (BA, 7 June 1956) “It further obliged by indulging in the buzzy little gasp of a vocal effort that is loosely referred to as its song.” Normally this bird is found only with a great deal of effort and patient birding in appropriate habitat. Its status and distribution throughout New York State remains “poorly understood,” NYSARC notes. (KB52: 17-18)
Background
This is a “secretive and highly localized species” primarily found breeding in wet meadows and edges of freshwater and salt marshes, notes the profile of this species in The Birds of North America series, published just before the splitting of Sharp-tailed into two separate species. A northern group of three subspecies, now Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow, occurs in three distinct areas – the prairies from northern U.S. into Canada, the south shores of James and Hudson bays and the Maritime coast into Maine. A southern group of two subspecies, now Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow, extends south from Maine along the Atlantic Coast. These birds winter primarily along the Gulf and south Atlantic coasts. “When not foraging, bird often runs, stopping at intervals and climbing to top of vegetation where it surveys neighborhood. When alarmed in grass cover or flushed from nest, bird often runs rodent-like in low crouch with head lowered.” Population data is scanty. However, marsh degradation and loss due to development is an ongoing problem that doubtless reduces available breeding habitat, leading to reductions in numbers. (BNA 112: 1, 3, 8, 19) Local history
The “complex taxonomic history” of this species is evident in trying to track how many have been reported here.Eaton (1914) wrote that the “Nelson Sparrow” (A. c. nelsoni) – apparently the nominate subspecies of what is now called Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow – could be found as a migrant “chiefly, if not entirely, in the fall” between 22 September and 27 October “along the shore of Lake Ontario . . .” He cited a record by David Bruce on 22 September 1894 in Monroe County, where he considered this an uncommon transient visitor. (Eaton II: 297; Eaton I: Monroe County chart). A “Nelson’s Sparrow” on 15 September 1929 was only the second in seventeen years of record keeping by Horsey and Edson; the first being on 3 October 1919. (“Two Rare Sparrows Visit City on Migration Route Southward,” D&C, 23 September 1929)Horsey also cites two sightings of “Acadian Sparrow,” which is probably the same as the “Acadian Sharp-tailed Sparrow” (A. c. subvirgatus) that Eaton considered a subspecies of the “Nelson Sparrow” and is one of the subspecies of the current Nelson’s Sharp-tailed Sparrow. Horsey’s dates for these birds are 25 September and 3 October 1919.Two “Nelson Sparrows” were reported at Shore Acres in October 1946, Edson reported. (WBR, 14 October 1946) Found as a migrant, albeit irregularly during the 1950s; of seven records, three were in May or early June. Miller and Al Starling got a good look at one on the west side of the mouth of Braddock Bay on 23 September 1957. “It was . . .perched on top of a thick clump of jewel weed at the edge of the bay, and the diagnostic ochre yellow face patch was clearly visible,” John Brown reported. (BA, 26 Sept 1957) In October 1959 Starling found another in the marshy area back of 2353 Elmwood Ave., where he also found one the previous fall. “He believes this one is the Nelson’s subspecies,” Brown noted. (BA, 22 October 1959)After 1960, this species literally disappeared from sight. “No Sharp-tailed Sparrows have been reported in recent years,” Richard O’Hara reported in spring 1970. “ After a few years when they seemed to be almost regular in late May or early June – although rare – they have stopped appearing here.” (KB20: 130)Finally, O’Hara found one in a field at Hogan Point on 30 May 1982. (KB 32:192)It took diligent searching, spearheaded by Mike Davids, to find this species on anything like a regular basis, and then primarily in fall. (KB 52:58) After calculating when fall birds would be most likely to be seen here, he “began staking out a suitably marshy area of cattails surrounded by weedy fields at Hogan Point in Greece.” (Marcotte, p. 35) He found one to two there 28 September to 7 October 1986. (LGNR) The next year, two were found at Beatty Point, three at Hogan Point and one at Irondequoit Bay ranging from 3-18 October, raising the question whether “new locations and higher numbers point . . . towards a recent change in their status here or an increased effort being made to locate them.” (KB38: 32) Another on 28 September 1997 (Kimball) was at Nation’s Road (KB 48:50; Fox, p. 93), representing a new location and “first away from the lake shore.”
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a casual, very rare spring visitant and a sporadic, rare fall visitant. In light of recent findings, this is probably a regular fall migrant when diligently looked for in appropriate habitat.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a casual very rare fall transient.
Occurrence
About 44 records since 1952, more than three quarters of them in fall, and most of the fall records in October. Often only one or two birds at a time.

Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated three records: 28 May 1955; 2 June 1956 and 30 May 1982. This either overlooked or discarded one on 31 May 1952 (O’Hara, Dolan) at Rose’s Marsh (KB 2:50). There have since been five other spring records: one on 31 May 1992 (Davids) at Hogan Point (LGNR); one banded on 1 June 1993 at Manitou by Bob McKinney (KB 43:315); one on 17 May 1998 (DeHart, D. Henderson) at Island Cottage (KB 48: 224); one on 7 June 2002 (Fox) at Savannah (KB 52:349, 351) and one banded on 18 May 2006 (BBBO) at Manitou Beach (LG, July/August 2006). The range of dates is 17 May to 7 June.
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of dates from 31 August (1952) to 2 November. (Note: KB reported that two from 1-7 November 1986 at Hogan Point set a new record late date. However, LG indicates the sightings were in October, and GOS lists no sightings later than October that year.)Most are seen end of September into first half of October, with Beatty and especially Hogan points being the most reliable locations. Two others were banded in the marshes along Yanty Creek, one on 18 September and one on 6 October in 1999. (BBBO newsletter, Dec 1999; KB 50:54) Maxima: Six on 6-7 October 1990 (Davids, mob) at Beatty Point appears to be the record high tally. (LG, November 1990)

Henslow’s Sparrow**

Centronyx henslowiiformerly Ammodramus henslowii
A soft fog rolling up from the Genesee River obscured distant views when an RBA field trip began its tour of the Nations Road area in June 1998. “The first stop was along Huston Road in search of Henslow’s Sparrows and the Chat,” Martha DeHart reported. (LG, August 1998) Despite the fog, “everyone got good looks at a remarkably obliging Henslow’s through several scopes – quite a feat and a great start for the trip.” There was good reason to be happy with this find. This species “is another bird which is most often identified by its song rather than by seeing the bird,” Edson noted. It usually prefers to stay down and “like the short-billed marsh (sedge) wren, if it becomes alarmed it is very hard to catch sight of as it usually runs around under cover.” (WBR, 22 June 1953) Fortunately, the “flee-sic” uttered by this species is distinctive.
Background
This “remarkably inconspicuous grassland bird” prefers fields with taller, denser vegetation and thick litter, compared to the drier sites, with shorter, less dense vegetation favored by Grasshopper and Savannah sparrows. When it finds a breeding site to its choosing, Henslow’s responds with a dry, thin, “feeble hiccup” of a song that is easily overlooked. Initially this species had two centers of distribution: the central prairies of the U.S., and coastal marshes in the east. As intervening forests were broken up and cleared, Henslow’s expanded into those areas until, by 1915, it could be found in a continuous band from the Plains to New England. However, this species has suffered the steepest decline of any grassland species over the last three decades or so, as grasslands have been lost, drained or degraded and, more recently, as hay fields and pastures have been converted to row crops and other intensively managed forage crops, such as alfalfa. No longer breeding in New England, for example. Only very recently have local populations begun to rebound significantly in areas where the Conservation Reserve Program has succeeded in setting aside undisturbed grassland. (BNA 672: 1- 4)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a rare summer resident in Monroe County, meaning only a few had been recorded, with no indication of occurrence in Livingston or Wayne. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated this species had been recorded in only five of those years, on dates ranging from 5 May to 13 September, with a maximum count of 10. Indeed, one in September 1929 was only the third in 17 years of record-keeping by Horsey and Edson, the first two being 27 August 1917 and the second on 15 July 1920. “The 1920 record seems to indicate that it nested nearby, but this year and in 1917 they were simply individuals touring or exploring.” (“Two Rare Sparrows Visit City on Migration Route Southward,” D&C, 23 September 1929)E. H. Short, meanwhile, found a nest with four eggs in June 1928 at Chili. (B&M, p. 433)By 1935 Edson reported that “the Henslow sparrow is becoming more common here, either by birds normally nesting to the south moving in, or possibly a natural increase due to lack of enemies . . . or from the fact there have been few heavy rains during the nesting seasons for the past two or three years,” thereby sparing nests placed in low areas. (WBR, 17 June 1935) When Leo Tanghe analyzed 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was, after Grasshopper Sparrow, the least frequently encountered summer sparrow, showing up on only 33 of 259 June-August lists within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)Nonetheless, Tanghe, in his 1953 listing of breeding birds in the Rochester area, considered this a common nester in places like Clarkson and along Ling Road. (GOS, May/August 1953) That is no longer the case.  By 1982, the research committee of the Genesee Ornithological Society urged further study of this species. “The Henslow’s Sparrow is seemingly an uncommon local . . . species which rather mysteriously appears in, and disappears from, widely scattered weedy fields from year to year. We have a rather vague idea of the type of habitat in which they may be found, but we do not have a clear understanding of why they are present one year and gone the next.” (GOS, March 1982)This species prefers pastures of the largest size and best quality, grass fields with weed stalks and goldenrod, or wet meadows adjacent to wetlands. (Levine, pp. 514-515; Andrle, p. 450) Beardslee and Mitchell wrote that it was “rather partial to fields in which teasels are growing.” (B&M, p. 434)The abandonment of farms with eventual reversion of fields to shrubby growth, and the draining of wetlands, have reduced this bird’s available habitat.
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, locally fairly common summer resident.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a regular uncommon to rare local summer resident
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 7 April to 23 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 25 April to 15 May.
     Spring maxima:       25 were in a single large field on 4 May 1980 (R. Spahn) at Hogan Point. (GOS, June 1980; KB30: 168)      25 on 30 May 1971 (Perrigo) at Mendon Ponds. (KB 21:152)
Summer/breeding status: The Breeding Bird Atlas projects have documented the alarming decline in this species’ breeding presence in our region.After several “thriving” and “good-sized” colonies were reported in 1979 (KB29: 215) and again in 1980 (KB30: 228), atlasers during the first project found evidence of breeding in several blocks in Monroe County, including five with confirmed breeding. Even in 1984, however, Robert Spahn considered this species to be “rare and local” (GOS, September 1984) and a year later noted that this species, along with Grasshopper and Vesper, “appeared to be faring much better away from the lakeshore.” (KB35: 264)  That was borne out during the second project, which witnessed a dramatic decrease in the number of blocks with evidence of breeding. This was especially noticeable along the west lakeshore, where this species was all but eliminated, and in Monroe County, where evidence of breeding was found in only two blocks, neither with confirmed breeding. Most evidence of breeding was in Livingston County, and even there the number of blocks was reduced. “From verbal input from workers, it is clear that … Henslow’s sparrows were hard to find in what appeared to be suitable habitat,” according to the notes to the July 2002 noteworthy records in the Goshawk.

Livingston County contains perhaps the best strongholds. Kimball found 23 males singing at Nations Road in 1998. River Road on the east side of Letchworth SP is another good spot. (Fox, p. 93) Four were at Ganondagon State Historical Site near Victor in July 1994, heralding an apparent additional nesting colony. (KB44: 301) However, it was short-lived. After a few years they were no longer being found there. (LG, September 2000, September 2002)By 2005, Kevin Griffith concluded this species was “nearly gone.” (KB 55:269)
Summer maxima: 22-23 all June and July 1998 (Kimball) along Houston Road, Nation’s Road area. (LG, September 1998) 7-10 on 9 June 1997 (K. and J. Fox) West Bloomfield. (LG, September 1997) 21 on 28 June 1999 (Kimball, Van Horn) in Livingston County. (GNR) 14 on 7 July 1979 (R. Spahn) at Greece. (GOS, September 1979) 25 on 15 July 1953 (Tanghes) at Canadice. (GOS, September/October 1953)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 30 July to 26 September (1982), with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 15 August to 13 September.

Savannah Sparrow

Passerculus sandwichensis
At first glance it didn’t look like sufficient “grassland” habitat. On one side of Church Road just east of Martin Road was a field of bare dirt. On the other, a field of row crops just starting to emerge. Separating the road and fields on each side was a narrow strip of grass, no more than 20 feet wide, most of which had been mowed, leaving only a narrow fringe of taller grass immediately adjacent to the fields. And yet, not one, but three Savannah Sparrows could be found singing their buzzy songs from the overhead wires in June 2006. “Two of our open field sparrows have now arrived and may be heard if the ear is properly trained. This is especially true of the Savannah sparrow,” Edson noted “as its song is so pitched that only part of it can be distinguished unless the observer is close by, and even these notes could easily be overlooked.” (WBR, 6 April 1953) The part of the song most easily heard is the final low buzz, that signals the presence of this mustard-lored species, which thrives because it seems able to adapt to a wider range of habitats than most other grassland sparrows.
Background
This abundant sparrow occupies a variety of open habitat – from tundra to agricultural fields, from meadows to marshes – across all of Alaska, most of Canada, and western, northcentral and northeastern U.S., with year round populations along the California coast into parts of Mexico. These birds tend to return to the same breeding areas, resulting in “substantial geographic variation” among 17 subspecies, including the so-called Ipswich Sparrow of Nova Scotia. BBS data showed these birds declining significantly in the east, but increasing in the central and western parts of their range. Urbanization and reversion of marginal farms to forest may partly explain declines in the northeast and around the Great Lakes. (BNA 45: 1, 19-20)
Local history
Eaton (1910) considered this species less numerous than the then common to abundant Vesper Sparrow, listing Savannah Sparrow as a fairly common summer resident in Monroe and Wayne counties, but giving no indication of occurrence in Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts). Edson and Horsey, however, reported in 1932 that “around Rochester it is fully as common as the vesper sparrow.” (3 Summer Resident Sparrows Return to Answer Rollcall,” D&C, 18 April 1932) R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of five to 12 birds, with a maximum count of 40, on dates ranging from 29 May to 30 October. In 1953, Tanghe listed this as an abundant breeder in the Rochester area, specifically listing Denise Road and West Henrietta as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)When he analyzed sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from January 1951 through December 1954, this species was encountered nearly twice as often as Vesper in summer, showing up on 117 of 259 June-August lists within a 50-mile radius of Rochester, compared to only 60 for Vesper. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)And so, while other grassland species such as Vesper, Henslow’s, and Grasshopper Sparrows have either disappeared or seriously declined along the lake plain, Savannah continues to hold its own. For example, it was described as “abundant” along the lakeshore in summer 1983, when there were “few reports” of Vesper, and when Henslow’s, other than a colony at Letchworth SP, was “absent.” (KB 33:268) These birds “are more accepting of a wider range of grassland and early successional habitat types than are other grassland sparrows,” Charles Smith notes. (Levine, p. 511)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common summer resident and a sporadic, rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an occasional rare winter visitant and a regular common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 26 March to 1 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 1 to 11 April. Subsequently, one on 13 March 1990 (Nicoletti) at Braddock Bay was a new record early date. (GOS, May 1990) Other March records, not listed as record early, were six on 5 March 2001 (D. Tetlow) at Nation’s Road (GNR) and two on 12 March 1977 (F. and R. Dobson) at Avon. (GOS, May 1977) One to six were along Nations Road from 1-17 March 2001 after individual were seen there 11 and 21 February. (LG, May 2001)
Spring maxima: 321 on 8 April 2007 (D. Tetlow) Parma to Carlton when record snowfall forced grounded migrants to bare roadsides. (LG, June 2007) 47 on 2 May 1998 (Kimball) Livingston County. (Fox, p. 92)
Summer/breeding status: The Breeding Bird Atlas projects indicate this species is widespread and holding its own, with evidence of breeding in almost an identical number of blocks. The only problem area, not surprisingly, is the very inner core of blocks in and around Rochester where this species is less likely to find suitable habitat.

Fox says this species is easily found in savannah fields and hay lots throughout Livingston County. (Fox, p. 92)
Summer maxima: 100+ on 4 July 2000 (Kimball) Geneseo. (GNR) 150+ on 21 August 2003 (Kimball) at Geneseo airfield. (GNR)
Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 7 October to 18 November, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 12 to 24 October. One on 25 November 1996 (Kimball) at Avon was later. (GOS, January 1997) See also winter occurrences below.
Fall maxima: 120 on 25 September 1999 (Kimball, Van Horn) along Nations Road. (KB50: 54, GNR) 600 on 2 October 2005 (Davids, D. Tetlow) at Hamlin. (LG December 2005) 70 on 15 October 2000 (D. Tetlow) at Hogan Point. (KB51: 519, GNR)
Winter: Individuals can be found lingering into winter months. One was reported on the Rochester CBC on 30 December 1951, for example (KB 2:15), one lingered from 12-18 December 1962 (Rohner) along Latta Road (GNR) and another was at Retsof (Listman) on 12 January 1964. (GOS, March 1964)Region 2 Kingbird reports mention January or early February sightings of this species in only nine of 30 years from 1976 to 2005; however, sightings have increased recently – eight of those years were 1994 and after – with the emphasis on Big January and Big February counts.One found by Mike Davids on 19 February 1992 at Letchworth SP was “either very early or very hardy.” (KB 42:97) “The bird was even heard singing!” (LG, March 1992)Five from 20-29 January 2007 (Kimball) were in Livingston County. (LG, March 2007)

Song Sparrow

Melospiza melodia
As temperatures soared into the 80s, and the humidity kept pace, this birder retreated into the air-conditioned comfort of his home rather than confront the hot, sticky air just outside on the July 4 weekend of 2006. And yet, even through the closed windows – even during the hottest part of the afternoon – he could hear a Song Sparrow lustily delivering bouts of song from the frontyard crabapple, a few feet from where the female occupied a nest in a low-growing juniper shrub. These are perhaps the most underappreciated birds in our region. Their song can be heard almost anywhere in open areas and along wood edges. They are industrious, and hardy. And yet they hardly ever draw comment. Frank Dobson, however, gave one pair an “A” for effort in a 1982 column that revealed much about this species’ perseverance. That May he saw a Song Sparrow feeding a large gawky cowbird in his backyard. Clearly, the sparrows, a favorite target of cowbird parasitism, had once again fallen victim. “At the same time the male song sparrow was attending the young cowbird, the female must have been on the nest again, for no sooner did the first cowbird get on its own when the same process started again, another cowbird. Next time it was two cowbirds. After a long, hard summer, Mr. and Mrs. song sparrow were tending to one of their own offspring – four nestings, four cowbirds, and one song sparrow.” (Birds, 5 September 1982)
Background
This familiar sparrow “is one of the most diverse and widespread songbirds in North America.” The 24 to 52 subspecies, breeding from Newfoundland to the Aleutians and south to Mexico, include birds as large as a California Towhee in Alaska to as small as a Savannah Sparrow near San Francisco. Song, wing and tail sizes, and plumages also vary among subspecies. Uses a wide range of breeding habitats, including forest, shrub and riparian habitats, usually nesting on the ground or very low near it, and carefully concealed. A favorite host for Brown-headed Cowbirds, which can contribute to local declines in population, along with loss of habitat. (BNA 704: 1-2, 7, 23, 34)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as an abundant summer resident in Monroe, Livingston and Wayne counties, occasionally remaining as a year-round resident. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of 20 to 25 birds, with a maximum count of 100. Though primarily seen from March to November, “several overwinter each year.”When Leo Tanghe analyzed 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951 through 1954, this species was easily the most frequently encountered of the sparrows, with 1,239 records overall within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. It was also the most frequently encountered in summer, showing up on 233 of 259 June-August lists, and the most frequently encountered of our resident sparrows in winter. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B) Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, very common summer resident and a regular, fairly common winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this regular fairly common to uncommon winter visitant and a regular common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 20 February to 24 March, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 28 February to 10 March. Subsequently, one on 17 February 2000 (D. Tetlow) at Hogan Point was an even earlier “first” of spring. (GNR)Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 29th with 273 birds taken from the nets.
Spring maxima: 100+ on 24 March 1982 (C. Cass) at the west spit of Braddock Bay. (LG, April 1982) 150 on 29 March 1962 (Listman) in the area of Braddock Bay. (KB12: 36) 1,155 on 8 April 2007 (D. Tetlow) Parma to Carlton when record snowfall forced grounded migrants to bare roadsides. (LG, June 2007)
Summer/breeding status: An early summer walk down the Route 390 bike path in Greece took Frank Dobson past a typical suburban patchwork of borrow ponds, open grassy areas, stands of young trees and older woodlots of ancient beeches and large oaks.Not surprisingly, “Song sparrows were the birds of the day. Sticking mostly to the edge of the woods or brushy tangles along the paths, they were singing everywhere,” Dobson noted. “Some birds were little disturbed over human presence. One well marked male just looked me in the eye from only a few feet, tossed its head back, and burst into song.” (Birds, 26 June 1988)  Probably our most abundant native sparrow, found in parks, suburbs, wood edges, and fields. Not surprisingly, it was one of the very few species for which evidence of breeding was found in every block assigned to our region during both Breeding Bird Atlas projects.

Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 31 October to 6 December, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 12 to 27 November.Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 18th with 515 birds taken from the nets.
Fall maxima: 100 on 7 October 1990 (mob) at Beatty Point. (LG, November 1990)
Winter: Many linger. When Leo Tanghe analyzed those sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951 through 1954, this species was easily the most frequently encountered wintering resident sparrow, showing up 60 times in January and early February. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)

Other winter maxima: 50 on 20 December 1968 (Templeton) at Conesus Lake Swamp. (GNR) 105 on 21 December 1958, the Rochester CBC, with 78 of them recorded by a single observer along a stretch of the lower Genesee River. (KB 9:32) 52 on 23 December 1978 on the Little Lakes CBC. (GOS, February 1979) Misc. One banded as an immature near Aylmer, Quebec on 25 July 1987 was retrapped at Bill Symonds’ feeder in Clarkson on 15 and 16 April 1988. Aylmer is about 209 miles northeast of Clarkson. (LG, February 1989)

Lincoln’s Sparrow

Melospiza lincolnii
This birder had just located a stunning male Northern Parula in Badgerow Park, foraging through the sunlit branches overhead, when a small brown bird suddenly flew up from the ground and perched on a branch. It was a Lincoln’s Sparrow. Sitting right where a ray of sunlight penetrated the branches and leaves above it. The dilemma of which to feast upon – vibrant Parula colors worthy of a Van Gogh, or the subdued Rembrandt tones of a Lincoln’s Sparrow – was resolved in an instant. Automatically, the birder focused on the Lincoln’s, knowing it would soon disappear into the underbrush, knowing a chance to study this skulker so openly does not come along every day! He admired the subtle beauty of this bird, especially the buffy wash on the finely streaked breast. And he marveled that it kept sitting there, in just the right place. When a second Lincoln’s flew up to perch in full view, it was icing on the cake!     Background
“Because this species breeds only in boreal regions, exhibits a distinct preference for dense shrub cover, and is secretive in nature, much of its biology remains poorly documented,” notes Elisabeth M. Ammon in her profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. It builds its nest on the ground “in surprisingly boggy sites” where there is dense vegetation and preferably low willow cover, in a range that extends from Alaska across most of Canada, into the upper Great Lakes and New England and through mountainous areas of western U.S. The song is “rich, warbling, wrenlike,” unlike similar sparrows. Most populations are reported to be stable or increasing. (BNA 191: 1, 6, 13-14)
Local history
Eaton (1910) list this as an uncommon transient in Monroe and Wayne counties, with no indication of occurrence in Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts)R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated only spring dates for this species, from 13 April to 27 May, and sightings of only single birds “one or two dates in spring, almost every year.” In 1949, Edson wrote that “The Lincoln sparrow is a skulker and keeps low in dense shrubbery, seldom getting up where one can get a good look at him. Therefore it seems probable that it is often overlooked.” He considered this migrant to be “one of our rare sparrows, apparently not appearing much more frequently than once in four or five years.” (WBR, 18 April 1949) This conflicted with Horsey’s assessment (1936) that one or two could be seen almost every spring. In any event, the first record of a singing Lincoln’s Sparrow wasn’t until 1939, according to Edson. (WBR, 30 May 1939) All the more remarkable, for those days, the sighting by Dirck Benson of a Lincoln’s Sparrow in thicket in Henrietta during the week ending 15 April 1949. The bird was “considerate enough to perch out in the open so that the characteristic buffy breastband, fine breast streakings and contrasting striped crown were noted. And to crown it all, it sang and the song resembled both that of the purple finch and the house wren.” “We would be rather happier if it had appeared nearer to the normal migration date: but perhaps we do not have enough records to establish the time of migration with sufficient accuracy.” When Leo Tanghe surveyed 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this was the sparrow encountered least often, within only 28 records within a 50-miler radius of Rochester. Most records (22) were in spring, with average counts of one to five birds. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)At least as recently as 1952, Lincoln’s Sparrow was among 20 species marked by an asterisk on GOS checklists, “for which a detailed observation (report) is required” because of “difficulty of identification or rarity.” (GOS/May August 1952)Even in 1954, Howard Miller described this as an uncommon but regular migrant in May, but “very rare (or not noticed) in fall.” (GOS, November-December 1954) So 12 seen by Listman from Island Cottage to the hawk lookout on 26 September 1959 were noteworthy. (GNR) And 10 on 19 May 1967 (Listman) at Braddock Bay (GOS, July/September 1967) caused Miller to comment that “The unusual thing about this is not that ten birds of this species were present but that it was possible to identify this many of such a secretive species.” (KB17: 158)This subtly beautiful migrant is now seen yearly spring and fall in greater numbers than these earlier chroniclers recorded, perhaps in part because birders have greater familiarity with it.
    Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, uncommon spring and fall transient and a casual, very rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular) uncommon to rare spring and fall transient.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 13 April to 15 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 3 to 12 May. In most years had departed by 29 May, with a late departure date of 5 June. Subsequently, one banded on 6 June 1994 (McKinney) at Manitou (GOS, September 1994) and another banded there (D. Bonter) on 8 June 1998 (GOS, September 1998) were even later.Spring: Of the 30 most common species banded in spring at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 22nd with 359 birds taken from the nets.
     Spring maxima:      60+ on 12 May 1997 (R. Spahn) at Island Cottage Woods and Holy Sepulchre and Riverside cemeteries. (GOS, July/August 1997)      35 on 13 May 1978 (R. Clark, Symonds) Hamlin. (LG, June 1978)      70 on 15 May 1979 (Perrigo) along the west lakeshore. (LG, June 1979)      18 on 18 May 1996 (R. Spahn, Whittum) at Island Cottage. (LG, July/August 1996)     Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 21 August (1982) to 5 October, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 7 to 24 September. However, one on 10 August 1976 (Perrigo) at Island Cottage was even earlier. (LG, September 1976)In most years had departed by 12 October, with a late departure date of 24 October (1966). However, one on 12 November 1975 (Skiff) at Webster was even later and singing. (GNR) Note also at least three winter occurrences below.Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 26th with 169 birds taken from the nets.
    Fall maxima:    22 on 17 October 2000 (D. Tetlow) at Greece. (GNR)
Winter: Extremely rare in winter. The first record was one reported at a feeding station 3 January 1960 (Rohner et al) on Latta Road in Greece, during a winter of record snowfall. It remained “at least until” March 28. Walt Listman verified the identification, John Brown noted in his weekly column, and “It was carefully observed by many of the area’s birders,” Howard Miller reported in the Kingbird. This was dubbed the “winter of the sparrows,” by Brown because of the startling number – for that time – of wintering sparrows: White-crowneds at two or three locations, a Fox Sparrow on the Rochester CBC, a Chipping Sparrow on the Hemlock Lake count, rumors of a Field Sparrow at Dansville and two Vesper Sparrows in the Buffalo area. Of all of these, Lincoln’s “would seem to be the least likely to be found here in the middle of January,” Brown added. (GOS, March-July 1960; BA, 14 January 1960; KB10:25) A second winter record was reported at Forest Lawn (R. Spahn) on 11 January 1981. (GNR) Another was at Hamlin Beach (D. Tetlow) 16-31 December 2004. (LG, February 2005)

Swamp Sparrow

Melospiza georgiana
Bird of Prey week ended not with a bang but with a whimper in April 2006. Cool, raw winds off the lake. Intermittent rain. No hawk flight. But in the dense, browned, matted cattails still standing from the previous year a familiar sound could be heard: The loose trill of Swamp Sparrows back on territory. This birder slowly edged out the boardwalk that extends into the marsh, hoping to glimpse one. There! No, too light. A Song Sparrow just passing through. There! Now that’s more like it: A far darker, more richly hued sparrow, perched briefly atop a cattail clump. It tilted back its head, gave its telltale song, then flew out over the cattails, hovered momentarily, and dropped out of sight.
Background
The “clear, slow, liquid trill or metallic chink is often the only indication of its presence in the inaccessible habitats it occupies,” notes Thomas B. Mowbray in his profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. It can be found breeding in freshwater cattail marshes, brushy meadows, bogs, and brackish marshes across boreal Canada, into northcentral and northeastern U.S. Wintering birds can be found in the southeast U.S., along the Pacific Coast and in Mexico. It nests just above the ground or the surface of the water, and thus its nests can be vulnerable to flooding. Overall populations appear secure, with BBA data showing slighting increasing numbers. Clearly, wetland preservation is important to this species. However, it has also shown an ability to use new habitats, such as farm ponds, roadside ditches, beaver ponds and reservoirs. (BNA 279: 1, 17-18)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a common summer resident in Monroe County, fairly common in Wayne and also occurring in Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts) “Often if not always noted in swamps in winter, some years as many reports in winter as in summer,” noted R. E. Horsey in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936. So much so that he lists this as a possible permanent resident, with average counts of one to six birds and a maximum of 25.When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this was the third most frequently encountered sparrow, reported 638 times. It was the third most frequently encountered in summer and the fourth most common in winter. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)In 1953 he listed this as an abundant breeder in the Rochester area, specifically listing Round Pond and Summerville (east bank of the Genesee River) as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, common summer resident and a regular, fairly common winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this a (presumably regular) fairly common to rare winter visitant and a regular fairly common local summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 5 March to 22 April, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 31 March to 16 April. Summer/breeding status: Richly hued bird is a common summer resident in swamps and marshes. During the first BBA project, the heaviest concentration of blocks with probable or confirmed nesting was in the lake plain. During the second project, larger gaps occurred in western Monroe and parts of Wayne County, but were compensated for by an increase in blocks in Livingston County.

Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 15 October to 1 December, with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 29 October to 17 November.Of the 30 most common species banded in fall at Manitou by Braddock Bay Bird Observatory during 1999-2006, this ranked 22nd with 274 birds taken from the nets.
Fall maxima: 40 on 15 October 2000 (D. Tetlow) at Hogan Point. (GNR) Winter: It is one of the sparrows most likely to stay in winter, usually in the same marshy habitats where it breeds. When Leo Tanghe analyzed sightings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, he found 33 reports in January and early February within a 50-mile radius of Rochester. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)
Winter maxima: 27 on 27 December 1998 (mob) Little Lakes CBC. (GOS, February 1999) 22 at Conesus Lake on 29 December 1985 (Bouton) on the Little Lakes CBC was a particularly good winter pocket. (KB36: 92)

Spotted Towhee

(formerly subspecies of Rufous-sided Towhee)Pipilo maculates
“A male in good plumage” came to a feeding area on Whittier Road in January 1976 and reappeared irregularly into February, according to John Brown. (BA, 11 February 1976) “It feeds on seeds on the ground and is apparently surviving the winter in good shape.” This was when Spotted had been relegated to subspecies status. Nonetheless, Jeanne Skelly dropped by the Myers residence on 8 February to see if the bird would show. “After a short while the bird came in to feed,” she wrote in the Little Gull. “In flight, the spots are very obvious on the wings and back. When the bird was perched I could see that the wing spots were almost pure white, while the back spots were more buffy. The spots on the back begin near the shoulder and form a ‘V’ down to the rump.” (LG, March 1976)
Background
This western counterpart of Eastern towhee is found in thickets and scrub in three distinct areas: the northern Great Plains, middle elevations of the mountains and intermountain plateaus, and the Pacific coastal lowlands and offshore islands, notes Jon S. Greenlaw in the profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. Interbreeding with Eastern Towhee occurs where ranges overlap in the Great Plains, at one time leading to the lumping of both species as Rufous-sided. However, this was split again as a separate species in 1995. “As in winter, may be recorded from many portions of e. North America during migration, although such occurrences are rare.” Populations appear stable or increasing. (BNA 263: 1, 2, 8, 22)
Status
Sporadic, very rare visitor.
Occurrence Two records: One in February 1976 (Myers, J. Skelly) at a feeder in Chili. (KB 26:103; LG March 1976) One on 22 December 1990 (J. Skelly, Sherony) on the Conesus-Hemlock-Honeoye Lakes (“Little Lakes”) CBC. (KB 41:106) It was observed by Dominic Sherony and Jeanne Skelly “on a scrubby hillside about 2/3 the way down the east side of Conesus Lake.” (Fox, p. 91)

Eastern Towhee

(formerly Red-eyed Towhee, Towhee, Rufous-sided Towhee)Pipilo erythrophthalmus
The Senecas incorporated birds into many aspects of their culture. Three of their eight clans were named Heron, Snipe and Hawk.They were also keen observers of the different behaviors of various bird species, and their stories and legends sometimes try to explain these differences. For example, Chewink was a lazy bird that was tricked by a wily fox into eternally scratching the earth in search of buried treasure. (Marcotte, p. 15) Birders know Chewink as the Eastern Towhee, and still listen for that tell-tale scratching in the leaves, and the distinctive “Che-wink” and “Drink your tea” of this widespread summer resident of brushy hillsides and wood edgings.
Background
This boldly patterned bird inhabits wooded edges across the eastern half of the U.S., favoring habitats where there is a dense cover of shrubs and small trees near the ground and a well-developed layer of leaf litter. Though principally a ground forager, it will also glean caterpillars from foliage in late spring and summer. “Across range, but especially from New Jersey north to n. New England, nearly unrelieved decline in Eastern Towhee numbers has been under way from at least 1966,” notes Jon Greenlaw in the profile of this species for The Birds of North America series. By the early 1990s, numbers in the Northeast were only 13 percent of what they had been in 1966, when BBS routes began. Greenlaw notes that as farmland is abandoned, as it has been in the Northeast, plant succession initially produces habitat that towhees prefer, and they thrive. However, “time is against towhees”: as succession progresses into forest, towhee numbers decline. Increased suburbanization since the 1940s, further cutting into preferred habitat, has amplified these problems. (BNA 262: 1, 6-7, 21-22)
Local history
Eaton (1910) listed this as a fairly common summer resident in Monroe County, but local in Wayne and Livingston. (Eaton I: county charts) R. E. Horsey, in his listing of birds seen at Rochester and Monroe County from 1913 to 1936, indicated average counts of one to two birds, with a maximum count of 15, on dates ranging from 26 March to 3 November. But even in 1929, though it could be found in brushy woodlands around Rochester, it was not common, Horsey and Edson noted. (“Purple Martin, Barn Swallow Arrive to Greet Red Wings,” D&C, 29 April 1929)“The towhee, up to about 30 years ago, nested on the then wild slopes north and east of the Pinetum ridge in Highland Park,” Edson reported in 1950. “But, as the shrubbery gradually died out and erosion washed away the natural ground cover, leaving bare ground, the towhees departed for more suitable nesting areas. Now they are finding conditions to their liking on the Colgate-Rochester Divinity School grounds. We certainly hope the grounds funds do not increase so unduly as to induce the grounds authority to organize a leaf raking program to remove the soil retaining duff which protects these steep slopes from destructive erosion.” (WBR, 5 June 1950) When Leo Tanghe examined 1,665 outings by Genesee Ornithological Society members from 1951-1954, this species was reported only 174 times, with nearly half the sightings (80) during the first three weeks in May. A single report during the first half of December and during the first half of February. An average count of 10-20 during the first half of July. (KB 5: 69: 7A-7B)Tanghe in 1953 considered this an uncommon nesting species in the Rochester area, specifically listing the Burroughs-Audubon Wildlife Sanctuary and Bergen Swamp as nesting locations. (GOS, May/August 1953)  Howard Miller in 1960 indicated it was “scarce as a summer resident along the lake in our area but is fairly common farther inland.” (KB10:61) Believed increasing in 1970 where abandoned farmland returned to brush. (KB 20:189) Even in 1977, however, this species was reported “very low on the lakeplain” though “good elsewhere.” (KB27: 153) Another problem for this species: excess deer eating the low, thick vegetation that towhees need. (Levine, p. 503)
Status
The Monroe County annotated list (1985) described this as a regular, fairly common summer resident and an irregular, rare winter visitant.Livingston County, Fox (1998) considered this an irregular rare winter visitant, a (presumably regular fairly common) spring and fall transient, and a regular fairly common summer resident.
Occurrence
Spring: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of arrival dates from 15 March (1973) to 9 May, with a mid range, or “normal arrival time” of 4 to 20 April. Subsequently, one on 5 March 1999 (J. Tetlow) at Perinton was even earlier. (LG, May 1999)
Spring maxima: 35 on 28 April 1956 (Listman) at the Hawk Lookout at Manitou. (GOS, January/June 1956) 25 on 30 April 1960 (Listman) at Manitou. (KB 10:61) 25 on 27 April 1997 (Fox) at Livingston County Park. (Fox, p. 90) Summer/breeding status: The Breeding Bird Atlas projects indicate this species is well represented in the southern half of the region, present in many blocks in Wayne County and along the west lakeshore, but absent from many parts of Monroe County where suburban sprawl has presumably removed its preferred habitat.

    Summer maxima:    25 on 15 July 1953 (Tanghes) at Canadice. (GOS, September/October 1953)     26 on 23 July 1954 (O’Hara, Van Beurden) at LeRoy. (GOS, May/August 1954)     Fall: The Monroe County annotated list (1985) indicated a range of departure dates from 3 October to 19 November (1982), with a mid range, or “normal departure time” of 15 to 25 October. However, numerous winter records as well.
      Fall maxima:      10 on 16 September 1955 (H. Dakin) at Bushnells Basin. (GOS, April-December 1955)
Winter: It is not unusual to find at least one or two wintering somewhere in our region. For example, one on 3 January 1953 (Listman, Van Beurden) was at Long Pond woods (GNR); and four were reported during the winter of 1959-1960 and its record snowfall. (KB10:25) At least 10 were reported in our area during the winter of 1972-73. (KB23: 90) Region 2 Kingbird reports mention January or early February sightings of this species in at least 14 of 30 years from 1976 to 2005.

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