"Seeds and Civilization"

American Tree Sparrow

        Seed gathering by people led to civilization and the start of city life. The ability to gather seeds and store them, gave man the extra food and extra time needed to develop poets, singers, builders, and thinkers rather than scrabble twelve hours a day to find something to eat. Many times this innovative change is thought of as one of man’s unique specialities, but... there is a bird who harvests seeds, the American Tree Sparrow.

        During the winter, when snow is on the ground, the American Tree Sparrow will thrash weeds with its tail and wings, knocking the seeds onto the white snow, making the darker weed seeds easy to see and easy to harvest. This is not unlike what man has done with flails when he first started harvesting wild rice and wheat. These astounding insights into the intelligence of birds shows once again, having a bird brain is not such a bad thing.

        The American Tree Sparrow is also unique in that it spends the summers in the far north raising its young on a diet of 100% insects, and then when this Sparrow comes south for the winter, the diet is primarily seeds. This bird is a ground feeder, builds its nest on the ground.... in spite of being named a Tree Sparrow. It travels and forges in large flocks, often mixed with other birds, but is distinguished from other rufous-headed look-alikes sparrows, by a black spot in the center of the chest which looks like a pendant on a necklace. I remember my first sighting near Kanaraville, one winter, in an area of pasture and oak trees. Was it a Rufous-crowned Sparrow, a Chipping Sparrow...... or could it be an American Tree Sparrow? Yes! With a black spot on the chest.

        The American Tree Sparrows breed across a vast expanse of northern Canada and Alaska. They winter throughout most of the United States as far south as California, Arkansas, and the Carolinas. Their breeding habitat is primarily in undisturbed areas, not frequented by man. But their wintering habitat can be severely impacted by the spreading growth of mankind.  Look for the American Tree Sparrow this fall and winter, for it’s possible to see them in southern Utah.

        Thank you Brenda Rusnell, for a great painting of the beautiful American Tree Sparrow. For more information about this bird, to talk about birds, or about the Red Cliffs Audubon meetings and field trips, call Marilyn Davis, 435 673-0996.