All Around Town

ALL AROUND TOWN

Backyard Bird Sightings from our Members and Friends

It’s fall, and the first-of-the-season sightings continue to roll in!  Cedar Waxwings are showing up in neighborhoods now, as well as Red-breasted Sapsuckers.  We’ve also received more reports of Hermit Thrushes from around the area.  Our year-round resident birds are also present and delightful as always, including owls, which are a thrill to hear on a crisp fall night.

A number of you have observed White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows, our most abundant winter sparrows.  Sometimes it can be hard to tell these birds apart, and the juveniles can be tricky.  At the end of this piece, we’ve included a special section on these birds, with tips for how to identify the adults and the young ones.  

Here’s what you’ve seen in your yards this October:

Three Western Bluebirds visiting Jack’s birdbath

In mid-October, three Western Bluebirds visited Jack Cole’s birdbath in San Jose (photos above and below).  Jack tells us this is the first time he’s had three bluebirds visit all at once.

Carolyn Straub and Steve McHenry (San Jose) report seeing a Bewick’s Wren take a dust bath in their yard.  They also have House Finches, Lesser Goldfinches, Chestnut-backed Chickadees, and Anna’s Hummingbirds at their feeders.

Kerri Fox (San Carlos) hears a Great Horned Owl most nights in her neighborhood, “and one night recently a responding second owl.”  This is the first year that she has heard Great Horneds in her area.  She writes that her neighborhood normally has “a Western Screech-Owl or two” as well.

Cedar Waxwings observed by Monica (above and below)

Monica N. (Milpitas) writes:

“Here are some of the new fall birds seen in my yard and neighborhood this month:

  • Northern Flicker 

  • American Kestrel - one female was perching on a nearby redwood tree again at the end of October

  • Oak Titmouse - we have a pair

  • Hermit Thrush - came back to our yard for three years now

  • Cedar Waxwing - A flock of ten was seen moving from the redwood tree to a nearby magnolia tree on October 28, which is my first-of-season sighting this fall/winter.

  • White-Crowned Sparrow (see photo in our special section below)

  • Golden-Crowned Sparrow”

Eve Meier (San Jose) told us at the end of October: “My Red-breasted Sapsucker has returned!  I was sitting out in my backyard yesterday and I noticed a quiet tapping coming from a nearby cedar tree.  I went to investigate and found the bird halfway up the main trunk on the back of the tree.  I like to think it's the same bird from last year but, of course, I don't actually know that.”

She adds:  “Besides the tapping of the sapsucker, my other favorite fall sound is the ‘chup chup chup’ of the Hermit Thrush in the early mornings before the sun has fully come up.”

Anna’s Hummingbird visiting Deanne’s yard (above and below)

Deanne Tucker (Los Altos) sent us these pictures of an Anna’s Hummingbird that she took in her yard recently.  The Anna’s is our Backyard Bird of the Month for November - click on the link to learn more about them!

Deanne also captured this picture of a jaunty Bewick’s Wren (below).

Jennifer Oliver (San Jose) says: “I’ve really been enjoying seeing the winter birds coming back into my neighborhood again!  Here are a few of the ones I’ve seen in the last few days (end of October/early November).  Happy fall!”

For more of Jennifer’s photos, see our special section on White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows below.

Yellow-rumped Warbler in Jennifer’s yard

Hermit Thrush visiting Jennifer’s yard

Emma Shelton (Menlo Park) sent us her observations for the month of October.  She writes:  “Not a whole lot different from last month (reported just a few weeks ago) but subtle changes.  The activity and monitoring itself is very rewarding though.”

“With the rain we are seeing more gulls flying over our neighborhood, on their commute from the bay to the parking lots.”

Here are Emma’s bird list and notes for the past month:

  • Canada Goose - every few days I catch them flying over the house

  • Mourning Dove

  • Rock Pigeon

  • Anna’s Hummingbird

  • Gull species

  • Cooper’s Hawk

  • Red-shouldered Hawk - heard and seen here a couple weeks ago  

  • Downy Woodpecker - We are seeing more of this one lately.  These and the Spotted Towhees are my husband’s favorite birds since they are so colorful!  

  • Northern Flicker - not often, but have heard them here

  • California Scrub-Jay

  • American Crow

  • Common Raven

  • Chestnut-backed Chickadee - probably the most common bird here!

  • Oak Titmouse

  • Ruby-crowned Kinglet - I think I saw one in the back bushes last week.  I’m primed after seeing them recently.

  • White-breasted Nuthatch

  • Pygmy Nuthatch 

  • Bewick’s Wren

  • House Finch - The lots and lots of them don’t change.  In fact, there seems to be a new crop?  Many squabbling youngsters in the yard every day.  

  • Lesser Goldfinch

  • Dark-eyed Junco

  • White-crowned Sparrow - Along with the Golden-crowned, they are now all over the front and back yards.  

  • Golden-crowned Sparrow 

  • California Towhee

  • Spotted Towhee - We both love this colorful bird.  Its squawks are so distinctive too.  Seriously, every time I encounter a foamy soap dispenser at a park restroom, I check to hear the sound.  It’s the same.

Here are two views of a Downy Woodpecker enjoying Emma’s suet feeder (above and below).

Emma adds:  “On my trips around the area I often think if my backyard were just two to five miles west, I would be reporting Great Blue Herons flying over, Canada Geese hanging out on the Woodside high school lawn, American Robins, California Thrashers, Acorn Woodpeckers by the hundreds, Brown Creepers, Hermit Thrushes, more hawks and Turkey Vultures.  We reported a thrush of some sort and a Ruby-crowned Kinglet here last month, but without our son’s sharper eyes I’ve missed them here.  He was trained as a little kid through the teenage years by SCVAS on field trips.   I’ve definitely seen kinglets and Hermit Thrushes in Woodside near the town center!”

WHITE-CROWNED AND GOLDEN-CROWNED SPARROWS

White-crowned Sparrow in Monica’s apricot tree, surrounded by fall colors

Every year, the start of fall is marked by the arrival of White-crowned and Golden-crowned Sparrows.  These pretty, sweet-singing birds breed further north but live here during the fall, winter, and early spring.  They love to forage in backyards, and if you scatter a little bird seed on the ground, you are sure to attract a small flock or two.

Viewed closely, adult White-crowned Sparrows aren’t hard to tell from adult Golden-crowned Sparrows, but the young birds can be tricky, and observing from a distance, you may have a hard time knowing which species is which, regardless of age.

Here are some tips to help you identify these two sparrows:

Adult White-crowned Sparrow in Jennifer’s yard

An adult White-crowned Sparrow has crisp black and white stripes on its head that strongly contrast with one another, and an orange bill.  

Immature White-crowned Sparrow in Jennifer’s yard

An immature (young) White-crowned Sparrow resembles an adult White-crowned but has a gray and brown striped head, and is overall a gray/brown color.  Depending on the light, its crown stripes might be hard to see.  Having trouble telling it apart from a Golden-crowned?  Look for the orange in its bill.

Golden-crowned Sparrow close-up, taken by Jennifer

Golden-crowned Sparrows of any age have a yellow patch in the middle of their crowns, bordered on each side by a thick dark stripe. The patch can be smaller or larger, duller or brighter, depending on the individual as well as the season.  The bird also has a dark or dull-colored bill, lacking the brighter orange color of the White-crowneds.

Are you watching these birds from a distance and can’t see their crowns?  Notice their size and shape.  Golden-crowneds are a bit larger than White-crowneds and have stockier bodies.  White-crowneds have a slimmer profile, and their heads may appear slightly peaked.  Having trouble seeing these differences?  Spend some time observing the birds when they forage side by side (they often forage in mixed flocks).

Finally, the birds have distinctly different songs.  While both birds sweetly whistle, the White-crowned’s song spirals, rises, and tapers off, while the Golden-crowned’s has three long falling notes.  A popular way to remember this song is “no gold here,” a common refrain from gold rush days, when Golden-crowneds foraged next to unlucky prospectors!

For more information about crowned sparrows in Santa Clara County, see our Backyard Bird of the Month article about these birds.  And if you want to compare the birds side by side, look them up in All About Birds and use the Similar Species comparison tool on the Identification page.

Happy backyard birding in November!

What birds are you seeing and hearing in your yard and neighborhood?

Send your notes and photos to backyardbirds@scvas.org.  We’ll feature them in our next edition of All Around Town.

Bird species reported to All Around Town
from October 2020 onwards

  1. Greater White-fronted Goose

  2. Canada Goose

  3. Mallard

  4. Bufflehead

  5. California Quail

  6. Rock Pigeon

  7. Band-tailed Pigeon

  8. Mourning Dove

  9. Anna’s Hummingbird

  10. Allen’s/Rufous Hummingbird

  11. Gull species

  12. Great Blue Heron

  13. Great Egret

  14. Turkey Vulture

  15. White-tailed Kite

  16. Golden Eagle

  17. Northern Harrier

  18. Cooper’s Hawk

  19. Bald Eagle

  20. Red-shouldered Hawk

  21. Red-tailed Hawk

  22. Ferruginous Hawk

  23. Barn Owl

  24. Western Screech-Owl

  25. Great Horned Owl

  26. Red-breasted Sapsucker

  27. Acorn Woodpecker

  28. Downy Woodpecker

  29. Nuttall’s Woodpecker

  30. Pileated Woodpecker

  31. Northern Flicker

  32. American Kestrel

  33. Merlin

  34. Pacific-slope Flycatcher

  35. Black Phoebe

  36. Say’s Phoebe

  37. Hutton’s Vireo

  38. Cassin’s Vireo

  39. Steller’s Jay

  40. California Scrub-Jay

  41. American Crow

  42. Common Raven

  43. Chestnut-backed Chickadee

  44. Oak Titmouse

  45. Tree Swallow

  46. Violet-green Swallow

  47. Bushtit

  48. Ruby-crowned Kinglet

  49. Red-breasted Nuthatch

  50. White-breasted Nuthatch

  51. Pygmy Nuthatch

  52. Brown Creeper

  53. Bewick’s Wren

  54. European Starling

  55. California Thrasher

  56. Northern Mockingbird

  57. Western Bluebird

  58. Varied Thrush

  59. Hermit Thrush

  60. American Robin

  61. Cedar Waxwing

  62. House Finch

  63. Purple Finch

  64. Pine Siskin

  65. Lesser Goldfinch

  66. American Goldfinch

  67. Chipping Sparrow

  68. Dark-eyed Junco

  69. White-crowned Sparrow

  70. Golden-crowned Sparrow

  71. White-throated Sparrow

  72. California Towhee

  73. Spotted Towhee

  74. Western Meadowlark

  75. Hooded Oriole

  76. Brown-headed Cowbird

  77. Yellow-rumped Warbler

  78. Townsend’s Warbler

  79. Black-headed Grosbeak

  80. Lazuli Bunting

All Around Town is compiled by SCVAS member Julie Amato.

Banner photo: Immature White-crowned Sparrow by Jennifer Oliver