BIRDS OF NANTUCKET
THE SOCIABLE SPARROW
by Kenneth Turner Blackshaw
The true pioneer of American ornithology, Alexander Wilson, gave this bird a wonderful descriptive name, Spizella sociabilis. But alas, Johann Matthäus Bechstein, a German ornithologist from the beginning of the nineteenth century, beat him to it with a more mundane and meaningless name, Spizella passerina, a 'sparrow finch.' Since something called the 'law of precedence' applies to the naming of all creatures, the first name given sticks, even if found to be totally inappropriate later on. Too bad for this charming little sparrow since it is among the most sociable of our garden birds. Massachusetts ornithologist Edward Howe Forbush called them "little browncapped pensioners of the dooryard and lawn."

Tree Sparrow

This is true almost completely across our country - except on Nantucket Island. Thirty miles of salt water does seem to make a difference! So as I was starting out with my birds all I had was the rather discouraging comment in Griscom and Folger's 'Birds of Nantucket' that this charming little sparrow was a very rare vagrant, only to be looked for in the autumn. I could read about Chipping Sparrows being part of everyone's lives elsewhere and only imagine what it must be like to know them.

It's important for you to realize this a real American sparrow. The birds most people think of as sparrows are actually weaver finches and were imported and introduced here in North America in the late 1800s. That they go by the common name of House Sparrow is a bit confusing - real sparrows they are not. They have many related species across Europe and Asia but their family, Passeridae, is quite different from Emberizidae that holds our American birds.

Our Chipping Sparrows are part of a big family that includes almost 80 species of American sparrows. It also contains Arctic buntings and longspurs, just to keep us on our toes. This family is one that must be studied to be appreciated. Birders often refer to them as 'LBJ's - little brown jobs. Beginning birders tend to just skip over these pages in the bird book, opting to study the more colorful warblers instead. When you actually begin to appreciate sparrows, you've reached a graduate level in birding.

Chipping Sparrows will seem smaller to you than House Sparrows do, but the main reason for this is that they are trimmer and more delicate. A House Sparrow by posture is a bit chunky and dowdy. Chippies have a chestnut brown cap and a black line through their eye, separated from the cap by a white line. They are pale gray and unstreaked underneath and striped brown above, showing two white bars on their wings. Mr. and Mrs. Chippy are identical.

When Audubon and Wilson were writing about American birds, there were no House Sparrows here at all and Chipping Sparrows ruled the yards and gardens of early American towns. They are very confiding and unafraid in their manner and really too small to eat, so like the Blackcapped Chickadee they became like members of the family. They often built their nests right next to people's windows. The inner lining of these nests was usually woven of horse hair, a much rarer commodity these days.

Just as an aside, a twentieth century ornithologist studying Chipping Sparrows found he was easily able to trap females in the nesting season by using strands of horse's manes to lure them into the trap. That local population used that same horsehair to line their nests for many years thereafter since, like the old Nantucketers, they recycled parts of their old homes to build new ones.

Chipping Sparrows are now expected on Nantucket every month of the year and are even considered common during migration. They are sporadic nesters and in 2007 appear to be on territory in several places on the island. Their song is a high, drawn-out trill of notes, and is easily confused with our more common Pine Warbler's song. The key is to listen for the dry little chips they utter as they move around. You generally find them on the ground and often startle them into flight before you realize they are there.

The best way to see them on Nantucket is to provide them with seed on the ground during migration. Most head farther south during winter but they have been found on six of our Christmas Bird Counts. Birders getting their first look at a Chipping Sparrow are always startled by the vivid, contrasting colors on their heads. Later, they find that they are also

sociable! I

George C. West creates illustrations for these articles. The Maria Mitchell Association sponsors bird walks on Tuesday and Saturday mornings starting at 8 a.m. from the corner of Vestal and Milk Streets. There is a fee. To hear about rare birds, or to leave a bird report call the Massachusetts Audubon hot line at 1- 781-259-8805. Ask Ken a question at: kenandcindy1@comcast.net