By Sally Siko

While birding along Mid Pines Rd at the Agricultural Unit of the NC State campus in Raleigh NC, I encountered a small flock of Savannah Sparrows chilling out on the fence line.
I pished at ‘em a few times and managed to coax a couple to fly in a bit closer so that I could get a better look.
It was fun to sit there for a few minutes watching the antics of these tiny floofs shaking off the water droplets and preening in the light rain.

These little guys look similar to other sparrows with brown striping on their breasts so they can be difficult to ID at a distance.
The thing to look for is that distinctive yellowish spot on the lore in front of and on top of their eye.
In yet another case of a bird with a seemingly nonsensical moniker, they were first named for Savannah, Georgia, (supposedly the city in which they were originally identified) yet they boast a wide range stretching from the northern shores of the Arctic Ocean, Canada, the United States and down into the southernmost regions of Mexico.

Like many sparrow species, Savannahs are voracious insect eaters and prefer to forage in habitats of open short grass fields containing piles of scrubby brush.
They also inhabit North Carolina’s tidal salt marshes, ponds and estuaries during the winter where the likely-hood of finding a six or eight legged snack near the water is greatly increased.

Look for them this winter in central and eastern regions North Carolina from now through May and again in June-August in the mountains of western part of our state.

Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on the full frame beast of an SLR, the mighty @canonusa
#5Ds