Harris’s Sparrow is an irregular winter visitor to the Pacific Northwest when it sometimes associates with other Zonotrichia sparrows in lowlands and around the Columbia plateau.

The Green-tailed Towhee, common in much of the Great Basin area, is a local breeder in the shrubby slopes of the Blue Mountains of southeastern Washington.  

A boreal forest breeder, the Golden-crowned Sparrow winters along the Pacific coast from September until April when it returns north to breed.

An Indigo Bunting, a common bird of the Eastern United States, made a rare visit to the west at Marymoor Park in Redmond, WA in June 2020.

The lovely all blue male Indigo Bunting has been called the Blue Canary (Dunne) for good reason. Its song is a bright and cheery combination of whistled notes, often in pairs, which can continue for hours throughout the day. This bunting loves to sing from a high and open perch.

The Spotted Towhee rustles through leaf litter, attracting the notice of people who can be surprised when they learn that it is a bird making all that racket.

The Vesper Sparrow is a grassland specialist which often sings in the evening.

The chipper forages in small flocks mostly on the ground and in low shrubs. When flushed, the group will fly up into a small tree. Its diet consists mostly of various insects in summer and a variety of seeds in the winter, but it will take both in any season.

The Song Sparrow is one of the most common birds in North America. However, it has demonstrated an amazing ability to adapt to its surroundings and today there is a wide range of variation in color and size in this species across the continent.

Formerly part of the Sage Sparrow complex of four subspecies, the Sagebrush Sparrow has been split off by the American Ornithological Union as a separate species and the remaining three subspecies are now grouped and renamed as Bell’s Sparrow A. belli.

The American Tree Sparrow is always a treat to see. It is a winter visitor to Washington and is most often seen east of the Cascade Range. However, some individuals occasionally stray westward and provide birders in Western Washington with a noteworthy observation. 

Lincoln’s Sparrow is one of those little brown birds that give many birders a lot of trouble in identification.  It is a secretive bird that forages on the ground in dense cover of brush or thick grasses making it difficult to see.

The White-crowned Sparrow (WCSP) is about 6 ½ - 7” long.  It has a boldly streaked black-and-white head; pink, orange or yellowish bill; whitish throat and clear gray breast.

The Savannah Sparrow (SASP) is 5.5" long with a 6.75" wingspan. The genus name Passerculus is from the Latin meaning little sparrow. The species name sandwichensis is Latin, of place, Sandwich, Unalaska, or Aleutians area, from which came the first subspecies, Aleutian Savannah Sparrow, to be described.

Juncos are common and abundant, sparrow sized, 6” long with light pink to white bills, gray or black hoods sharply set off from white belly, and white outer tail feathers that are conspicuous in flight.  

Its genus is the same as a McKay’s Bunting and comes from the Greek plektron meaning a clawlike tool for striking the lyre, referring to the long, straight hind claw and phenax meaning cheat, or false, as the claw only appears to be like a plektron. The species name, nivalis, is Latin for ‘snowy.’

The genus name Passerella (pass-er-EL-ah) is from Latin, passer, meaning a sparrow. The species name iliaca (eye-lih-AY-cah) is Latin relating to the marked flanks. The common name is from the reddish or tawny “fox” color of feathers. The Fox Sparrow (FOSP) is about 7” long with a wingspan of 10.5” and a weight of 1.1 oz. (32g). It is one of our largest sparrows.