One of my favorite songbirds to visit North Carolina during the wintertime is the White-throated Sparrow.
Each November, the fields are filled with their cheerful clear whistled songs as they call out to one another from the grass.
I spotted these two while on a birding trip at the Prairie Ridge Ecostation in Raleigh last week. Aren’t they sweet? I love the bold colors on their faces.
A ground nester, the White-throated Sparrow breeds in eastern Alaska, the northernmost states of the U.S. and throughout Canada.
Like most sparrows, their diet mostly consists of berries and insects during the summer. This protein rich diet provides nourishment for growing nestlings as well as building of energy reserves for the autumn migration ahead.
When winter arrives and the bugs are scarce, they mainly dine on seeds which is why they may end up being a familiar sight at our bird feeders.
You can attract them to your own yard by filling your bird feeder with black oil sunflower seeds, small dried fruits and millet.
They also favor habitats that include a brush pile where they can roost so consider providing them with this type of cover on your property.
The White-throated Sparrows are a relatively common sight here in North Carolina throughout the winter. That’s ok though because they certainly are pretty to look at!
Look for them in areas of thick, tangled undergrowth in open tall grass fields and in shrubby areas at the edge of the woods from November through early May.
🙂
Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on the fabulous full frame @canonusa
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