Harris's Sparrow, Zonotrichia querula
Harris's Sparrows, the largest North American sparrows, breed on the tundra of north-central Canada; they mostly winter in the central plains of the US, from Nebraska south to east Texas. Scattered wintering birds are found over most of the US, but only rarely in central California, and very rarely in my home county of Santa Clara, where the birds shown here and at the bottom of this page are the only two reported in the last 35 years, both in early December, of 2004 and 2011.
The adult bird shown above and below was found by local birder Lisa Myers in her back yard, where I was able to photograph it on the day of its discovery -- thanks, Lisa and Al!
Above and the next three below are photos of an adult Harris's Sparrow that spent the winter of 2011-12 at Cascade Ranch on the coast of San Mateo County, where the species is nearly as rare as in my home county. After the harvest, the farmer dumps remnant Brussels sprouts to compost in piles at the edge of the property, where as they decay they attract an impressive variety of sparrows and other songbirds. These pictures show the rare bird they attracted, the top two taken in December and the third and fourth on two return visits in January.
Shown above and below is a first winter Harris's Sparrow spotted by bird photographer Peter LaTourrette at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View in 2004; I photographed this bird and the adult at the top of this page on the same date, December 4, seven years apart. The less extensive black on this bird's throat and breast mark it as immature.
