American Tree Sparrow

[pauraque]

This cute little redhead is an American Tree Sparrow. They're winter-only birds for us in New England, migrating south into the US after breeding in northern Canada. Their arrival after our summer songbirds have moved on is a welcome marker of the changing seasons here. I usually see them foraging in small groups, and there were two more with this one out of frame.



Despite the name, they are most often seen on the ground. They got their English name from settlers who thought they looked like the also-redheaded but unrelated Eurasian Tree Sparrow.