Sparrows Are Not Boring Birds

Why don't I take more pictures of them?

Rufous-crowned Sparrow

Even in a birder’s paradise such as Sierra Vista Arizona, at times during the middle of winter, it seems like all there is to take pictures of is finches and sparrows. I’m not sure why I would view that as a bad thing.

Sparrows are pretty cool birds … and there are a lot of different types.

These little birds have been on my mind for a couple weeks now, ever since I read a post called Birdwatching’s Carbon Problem (Bryan Pfeiffer). The post addressed a serious issue; namely how much gas and energy many of us wildlife enthusiasts use in the pursuit of our hobby. But what caught my attention, was the story he used to illustrate his point, was about the search for a bird called the five-stripped sparrow, which is only found right here in southeast Arizona.

Of course I immediately wondered if I have any pictures of five-stripped sparrows? Alas, to the best of my knowledge, I do not.

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But just a quick Look through my archives produced half a dozen different types of sparrow that I have photographed.

House Sparrow

When I got a new 150-600mm lens for my birthday in March, literally the very first picture I took with it was of the House Sparrow up above that was hanging out in some bushes in the neighbor’s yards just down the street.

I don’t know why I don’t try to take more pictures of sparrows. Over the years, I’ve captured some pretty cool images of even the most common varieties.

Song Sparrow

Chirpping Sparrow

White Crowned Sparrow

Black Throated Sparrow

Lark Sparrow

Lincoln’s Sparrow

I even have a few pictures of sparrows I had never heard of.

Grasshopper Sparrow

I also didn’t realize until I started doing research for this post (I should just give back my amateur birding badge) that Juncos and Towhees are sparrows. Of course I have some pictures of both.

Green-tailed Towhee

Canyon Towhee

Spotted Towhee

Albert’s Towhee

Yellow-eyed Junco

I bet if I really looked hard through my archives, I probably have pictures of even more sparrow subspecies. I could do that. Or …

I could just grab my camera and go out deliberately looking for sparrows.

I think I’ll start doing the later much more often.

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Til next time,

Todd

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