Outdoor bird watch
BY DAN REINKING
Sunday, March 03, 2013
3/03/13 at 6:48 AM
Named for its charming song, the vesper sparrow is not so vocal during the winter, but during the nesting season it continues to perform through the late afternoon and evening.
Present in Oklahoma from September through April, vesper sparrows are found in open country including pastures and prairie roadsides where they are seen on the ground or perched on barbed wire fences.
A white eye ring and white outer tail feathers which flash as birds take flight, together with fine brown streaking on the breast, help distinguish them from other sparrows.
This week in eastern Oklahoma
ARRIVALS
Pectoral Sandpiper, Franklin's Gull, King Rail, American Golden Plover, Northern Rough-winged Swallow, Barn Swallow, Yellow-headed Blackbird
DEPARTURES
Trumpeter Swan, Glaucous Gull, American Tree Sparrow
Original Print Headline: Bird Watch
Dan Reinking is a senior biologist at the Sutton Avian Research Center in Bartlesville. Contact him at dreinking@ou.edu or see tulsaworld.com/suttoncenter.
The Bird Watch list is excerpted from the Date Guide to the Occurrences of Birds in Oklahoma, which lists normal dates of occurrences for bird species by seven geographic regions of the state. It is a publication of the Oklahoma Bird Records Committee of the Oklahoma Ornithological Society. For full information about the guide and how to report unusual bird sightings at unusual times of year go to tulsaworld.com/okbirds.
Associated Images:
A vesper sparrow rests on a barbed wire fence. JIM ARTERBURN / Courtesy
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