[EBB Sightings] Lincoln's Sparrows

 

Interesting difference between Oakland and Livermore with regards to sparrows.  In a dozen years of backyard feeder watching, our dominant sparrow (other than the obnoxious House "Sparrow") is the White-crowned, with a dozen or more coming in to seed on the patio.  We'll get Golden-crowned a few times a winter and Oregon Juncos just a couple of times.  It is a treat to hear the Golden-crown's song, while the White-crown's is the typical winter ambient sound.  

I live about 200 m from a creek, where the Golden-crowns are more common.  The juncos nest about 5 miles from here at Veterans' Park, but don't often make it into town (at least my part of town).  Like Prof. Harris, I've had Lincoln's Sparrow just one winter, though it came several times.  Song Sparrow is less than annual.  Last year's highlight was a 1st year Harris's Sparrow, which showed up 3 or 4 times that I know of.  California Towhees are also around, generally a pair.  We had a male with a lame foot that was resident from 1996 to this past spring. Spotted Towhees are also at Veterans' Park, but never at the house


Jaan Lepson
Livermore


>Hi Sylvia,
>I've been watching birds in my yard/feeders for at least 15 years.  I've only had Lincoln's in my yard one winter. Based on reports on this list, I think they might be somewhat more frequent in Berkeley. I'll go out on a limb here and suggest that maybe they like the cooler, foggier locations in the East Bay.
>My house is near the intersection of Lincoln and Monterey in Oakland. Our usual winter sparrow crowd is a pair of Song Sparrows, perhaps with juveniles of the year, up to 10-12 Dark-eyed Juncos, 2 or more Cal. Towhees, ditto for Spotted Towhees, and in the last few years, 3-6 Golden-crowned Sparrows. We have White crowned Sparrows occasionally, but not regularly through the winter.
>Cheers.
>John H. Harris
>Professor of Biology
>Mills College
>5000 MacArthur Blvd.
>Oakland, CA 94613
>(510) 430-2027
>johnh at mills.edu
>On Thu, 29 Sep 2005, Sylvia Sykora wrote:
>>Have I been missing these birds in the general crowd all these years?  Have they been found in any of the Oakland hills locations?  I'm now scrutinizing my Song Sparrows but would like to know if Lincoln's are a possibility here.
>>
>>Thank you for any input you can provide.
>>
>>Sylvia Sykora
>>Oakland
>>Montclair near Castle/Skyline