[obol] Lincoln Brewer' Sparrows

[Darrel Faxon]

Obolites,
    The Brewer's Sparrows that showed up at Thornton Creek last night were still here this morning.  Last evening I saw what appeared to be three adults, but this morning there was at least one which was a juvenile bird, and on one occasion I saw it being fed by an adult.  I found that totally shocking.  I had never seen the species in the county before, and certainly do not think they nested on our farm.  Just how uncommon is it for sparrows (or other species) to be feeding begging juveniles during migration?  In my experience with birds like swallows and white-crowned and song sparrows, I have observed adults feeding out of nest juveniles for maybe a couple of days, but not much longer.  Unless some of the birds found a clearcut to be suitable nesting habitat ( a possibility), there seems to be no reasonable explanation for such behavior.

Darrel
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