Backyard Birding

Backyard birding is an exciting hobby for a variety of reasons. The color, the sounds, the pleasure of new friends and old acquaintances and the bit of wildlife in your own backyard are all important factors. But the dream of every birder, whether they travel the world or merely watch from their patio window, is to discover the unusual. When rare birds appear in an area, whether endangered or just out of range, the backyard birder rejoices. It is shared in forums. If you look, you will probably even find a rare bird alert that will notify you of these events in your area. And birders from around the state will travel to see the rare or unusual bird.

Wanda and John Darby have had just this kind of experience in their own backyard in Boone County Missouri. Their backyard feeding hobby sounds similar to mine: an average pair of binoculars, a digital camera and several feeders, although nothing too elaborate.

The Darbys have a pair of bluebird houses at the rear of the yard, three bird baths, a single finch feeder, two hummingbird feeders, a suet feeder in the winter time, both hinging [sic] and platform feeders filled with ordinary black oil sunflower seeds and grain scattered on the ground. Many Columbians can paint the same picture. Columbia Tribune

Their backyard, however, is also home to four Eurasian collared doves and the nesting site for a family of Eurasian tree sparrows, the only Eurasian tree sparrow nest documented west of St. Charles County.

The Tree Sparrow was introduced to the United States in 1870 by a St. Louis bird dealer named Kleinschmidt along with four other varieties of European finches. Only the Tree Sparrow - which is a finch, not a sparrow - survived.

For 100 years, the sparrows prospered, but only in a very limited range ringing St. Louis. In the past decade, reports of the species’ expansion preceded the Darby nesting. An earlier spring report placed another population near Tri-Cities Lake between Centralia and Sturgeon, but nesting was not observed. Ibid.

The most interesting bird I have seen so far has been a bald cowbird. Otherwise, our birds have been the ones common in the area. Providing a suitable habitat with food, water, shelter and nesting sites virtually guarantees that some birds will frequent your yard. But it might also draw in the unexpected.

Don’t forget the comment contest going on for the month of August here at 451 Press. Every comment counts!

birding, backyard birding, birdwatching, Eurasian tree sparrow, Eurasian collared dove