Avian Adventures, Blue Ridge Birders, Community Programs, Event, SWVA
Annabelle Muriano
Help Scientists by Collecting Data with the ...

For four days each February, birdwatchers of every skill level can participate in a global event for the love and wellbeing of birds.

Help Scientists by Collecting Data with the Great Backyard Bird Count
School Programs
Lisa Benish
Science In Nature Program: Session II

Join us October 14th through November 18th (one day per week) for Session II

Science In Nature Program: Session II
Naturalist Gift Guide
BRDC, Admin
A Naturalist's Book List

With all of the wonderful apps available, it is still a good idea to have a shelf of guides to call on.  We love paging through them while planning our next exploration, exploring their beautiful illustrations, and carrying our favorites with us for quick reference.

A Naturalist's Book List
Galax Enrichment Program
BRDC, Admin
Galax Enrichment Week - Primitive Technology

BRDC recently hosted a Primitive Technology course as part of Galax Middle School Enrichment Week. The students were engaged with a variety of hands-on activities that connected them to skills used by early American Indians and materials found in their backyards.

Galax Enrichment Week - Primitive Technology
Book Club
Anonymous
(July 2014) 4. The Sixth Extinction: An ...

"Over the last half a billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs."

(July 2014) 4. The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Elizabeth Kolbert

"juncos"

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Return of the Hybrid Sparrow

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This afternoon at my parents' home after lunch, I decided to relax near the bird feeders and sat down on a bench near them. I saw a couple of goldfinches, and heard the trills of a junco singing nearby. I looked closer at the feeder area.

Perched there was the White-throated Sparrow x Dark-eyed Junco that has visited their feeders and yard during winter and early spring since Christmas 2006. I compared its look with this critter's framed photos in the living room. Gotta be the same individual.

Shortly after I noted the hybrid, a male Dark-eyed Junco landed and pecked a couple of sunflower seeds. Now the question is: did the hybrid or the male junco sing?

A few published reports about the songs of hybrid white-throats x juncos indicate that the birds sing a combo of songs from both species.

I don't know where this bird travels in the spring. Wish I could somehow discover this little fact or set of facts. But anyway the presence of this individual four winters in a row really is amazing. My parents must have a great place for a sparrow's winter vacation is all I can figure.



Notes:

The photo above was taken by Bruce Grimes in January 2008. First photos of this sparrow was taken in December 2006.

This individual hybrid is the only one I know of for Franklin County, VA. Bruce Grimes and I encountered another hybrid white-throat x junco in Henry County, along Bowens Creek. Bruce managed a couple of lousy pictures before rain started falling and the sparrow flew away. This individual looked more like a sparrow, and had only a few features of a junco.

Retired ornithologist Dr. Eric Johnson found a hybrid on his property in Patrick County last spring. What is going on? What are these sparrows and juncos up to? Is hybridization more common than we have believed?

www.ferrum.edu/fns/vol5issue1.pdf