Bird Calls Radio's Bird of the Day for Friday, Aug. 5
Fox sparrow by Chris Bosak (copyright, all rights reserved)
The Bird Calls Radio Bird of the Day for Friday, Aug. 5 is the fox sparrow. The fox sparrow separates itself from other sparrows with its larger bill and pleasant rusty plumage. A naturalist once described the fox sparrow to me as a “sparrow on steriods.”
Fox sparrows are often found on the ground. I’ve seen them at my feeders on several occasions. One winter there was a big influx of fox sparrows and about a dozen came to my house to visit. That was a treat as fox sparrows are usually in small numbers.
Fox sparrows also scratch on the ground for food and the sparrow pictured above certainly has the nails for it.
Be sure to check out Bird Calls every Saturday from 3 to 4 p.m. on WSTC/WNLK AM1400/1350 (in S. CT and nearby NY) or www.wstcwnlk.com from anywhere in the world (where there’s Internet access, that is.) Thanks for checking in.