What is that lurking under your bird feeder? All summer, nothing strange happens out in the backyard. Suddenly, when autumn arrives, so do some unusual birds.
Some are relatively predictable. Fox sparrows nest in Maine. They breed up in the north woods and on many mountain tops. Some guide books and websites suggest they don’t breed in Maine, but I assure you they do. Hop in the car with me right now, and I’ll go show you some.
Because fox sparrows winter nearby in the southern United States, they linger longer before migrating, and you’re more apt to see one in October. They are unlikely to perch up on a feeder, preferring to scratch the ground beneath feeders. They are larger than most sparrows and typically are a ruddier shade of brown. There are several races across the country, some with a remarkable amount of gray color.
White-crowned sparrows are sneaking through Maine right now. They don’t nest here. Their summer range extends across northern Canada, with many inhabiting northern Quebec, Labrador and Newfoundland. They winter just below the Mason-Dixon Line, so they are frequently seen in migration. They look and act much like our white-throated sparrows, but the striped crown is more distinctly black and white. An individual under the bird feeder is not a big surprise this time of year, and sometimes there are small flocks traveling together.
Lark sparrows are rare visitors to Maine feeders. These are birds of farm fields, grasslands and weedy roadsides. They are common throughout the West. Ohio is the eastern edge of their range. They are prone to wander during migration, and a few inevitably show up somewhere in Maine. Lark sparrows have a unique facial pattern with broad patches of chestnut color punctuated by bold white streaks. They walk. Most sparrows hop.
Dickcissels look like colorful house sparrows, though they are more closely related to cardinals. They inhabit the grasslands of Middle America. Their fondness for seeds lures them to feeders whenever one strays into Maine. I’ve heard of two sightings so far this autumn.
Warblers are insect eaters, but a few can supplement their diets with small seeds. Orange-crowned warblers are denizens of northern Canada and western United States. They are prone to wandering in migration and sometimes turn up after all the other warblers have left. I was surprised to see one in late August, which is unusually early.
Identifying an orange-crowned warbler is a humorous exercise, because they have virtually no field marks. The orange crown is useless as a field mark unless you’re holding the bird in your hand. Nor does it have wing bars or any color variation. A close observation might reveal a partial eye ring or some barely perceptible breast streaks. Otherwise, I recognize these guys by their complete lack of field marks. It’s a drab, olive-colored bird that often stumps birders.
Two robin-like birds are possible at feeders. The Townsend’s solitaire is a medium-sized thrush of the Rocky Mountains. It’s a gray bird with an eye ring and a long tail. They don’t migrate far — the Great Plains and the Mississippi River are normally great barriers to any western bird wandering east. They shouldn’t be here. But, somehow, it happens. One was reported in Clifton last week.
The varied thrush is similar to a robin. Its range is confined to the Pacific Northwest, but a few individuals get wanderlust. Like robins, they can switch from a summer diet of insects and arthropods to a winter diet of seeds and fruit. Thus, when a varied thrush meanders into Maine, it is likely to scrounge for a meal at a bird feeder or visit backyard ornamental fruit trees.
You have a good chance to see the white-crowned or fox sparrow this autumn, since they definitely forage through Maine on their way south. You probably won’t see any of the others. Sightings are rare. But unusual species do pop up in autumn. It pays to keep an eye on the feeder.
It also pays to keep the hummingbird feeder up for another month. Our ruby-throated hummingbirds have mostly departed by now, bound for Central America. But there are 15 other species of hummingbirds in the United States. Most keep their distance from Maine and few get to this side of the Mississippi. But some do. That almost always happens in autumn, when a few hummingbirds misread their internal compass. If they find a feeder they like, they just may stick around a few days.
Bob Duchesne serves as vice president of Maine Audubon’s Penobscot Valley Chapter. He developed the Maine Birding Trail, with information at mainebirdingtrail.com. He can be reached at duchesne@midmaine.com.