You may have seen the platform feeder filled with small brown sparrows during the last few weeks when the weather was so cold. And at first glance, you may have thought they were House Sparrows – but they are not. We used to have a large flock of House Sparrows living here, but we have […]
Looking out our windows, I feel like a child again in Pennsylvania. Except I will be enjoying all this snow from inside our house and not outside playing all day with my next door neighbor Chip. Building snow forts, snowmen, and shoveling driveways and sidewalks for $5 – to be split between us. Those were […]
This morning, Cleon and I changed the bird feeders and what we are offering. We are now set up for winter. We did this today because even though we are still having warm temperatures during the day – in the mid-60’s to 70’s – we are starting to experience cooler nights. Our forecast: most of […]
You have probably noticed a decrease in the number of birds using our feeders and birdbaths over the past few weeks. And some birds have disappeared completely. Regardless of where you live in the United States or Canada, if you have feeders, it is most probable you will notice a decrease in birds at your […]
In many places in North America, the House Sparrow is not rare. In fact, it can be so abundant as to be a nuisance. When we first moved here to central Illinois, we started with a few House Sparrows, but within 10 years, we had a flock of about 30 eating at our feeders every […]
Cleon and I live in central Illinois and range maps in field guides or online – especially those published before 2012 – can show that we are out of this bird’s range. The Eurasian Tree Sparrow is not native to North America, but was introduced in St. Louis and established itself in the city and […]