Black-throated Sparrow

Ultra-rare Sparrow Arrives in Province

Black-throated Sparrow

On Monday evening, April 25, Nicole MacDonald discovered a strange-looking sparrow at the Beaubassin Research Station, near Aulac, NB.  She identified it as a BLACK-THROATED SPARROW (Amphispiza bilineata) and reported it to the birding community.  Wow!  This is an ultra-rare sighting.  Many of us have successfully seen it since.  This sparrow normally inhabits the south-western part of North America.  It is a bird of deserts and scrub land.

Black-throated Sparrow

The Black-throated Sparrow is an Amphispiza sparrow.  We do not have any sparrows of that genus in our geographical area.  Our sparrows are Spizella (Tree, Field, Clay-colored, Chipping),  Passerculus (Savannah),  Pooecetes (Vesper), Ammodramus (Grasshopper, Nelson's),  Passerella (Fox), and Melospiza (Song, Lincoln's, Swamp),  Zonotrichia (White-crowned, White-throated) Sparrows.  That makes our visitor even more rare.  Given that it is a different genus, it still looks much like the White-throated Sparrow in shape and size.  But this sparrow is very different in that it is gray in colour.  On first look, one sees a very light gray sparrow.  Only on closer look can one see a bit of brown on its lower back.

Black-throated Sparrow

This bird was hiding in a spruce thicket, coming out frequently to feed on seeds that had been sprinkled among the grass and undoubtedly natural seeds scattered there by Mother Nature.  It was associating with a flock of native sparrows, Song, White-throated and Chipping.  Unfortunately we did not hear it sing.  

Black-throated Sparrow

The Black-throated Sparrow is a bird of southern Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico where it breeds and is found year-round.  Some birds fly north to breed in Nevada, Utah and southern Oregon.  It is common in arid desert scrub and areas of sparse vegetation.  It often feeds in the open on the ground and will sit on exposed vegetation. 

Black-throated Sparrow

I think this is the most beautiful sparrow I have ever seen.  Its appearance is striking with the light gray on its upper body, the large black throat patch and bib and the strong white superciliary eye line.  The white submoustachial line sets off the face nicely.  The tail is dark gray brown with white edges.

Black-throated Sparrow

This Black-throated Sparrow feeds on seeds, insects, grass and herbs.  Its song is two clear notes followed by a buzzing sound.  It is likely this bird will find plenty to eat here.

Black-throated Sparrow

It is interesting to speculate on how this bird got here.  To have a bird normally inhabiting Arizona and perhaps flying to Nevada or southern Oregon suddenly show up in New Brunswick is indeed unusual.  It appears to be a healthy bird so whatever route it took was well within its capabilities.  We have had some severe winds in the last two weeks.  Perhaps they contributed to its arrival.  And, sometimes some birds seem to get their internal compasses mixed up and they fly in unexpected directions.  This bird was off in its direction and way over-shot its target.  We do not know if this is the end of its summer journey or if it will continue on.  In the meantime, we wish it well and hopefully the kind people at the research station will continue to scatter seed for it.  Thank you, Nicole!