Harris’s Sparrow
Seiurus aurocapillus

by Alvin Miller, age 12

The Harris’s Sparrow is a large, burly sparrow found in the mid-west. It is the largest sparrow at 7.5 inches long. They have a large head, a big pink bill, and a long tail.

Their plumage is striking and distinctive. They have a brown back streaked with black, a bright white belly, and a black crown, face, and throat that contrasts with a paler, plain grayish-brown head. In winter they have plain brown cheeks with no gray mixed in. Immatures have buffy colored faces and almost no black.

These big sparrows like to forage on the ground for seeds, insects, and berries. They also eat flower buds and small blossoms. On the southern plains in winter flocks of Harris’s Sparrows are often found in dense river bottom thickets, woodland borders, clearings, and brush piles.

They breed regularly in mossy bogs and scrub forests of central Canada, west of the Hudson Bay, and south to northern Manitoba.

Their nest consists of 3-5 brown blotched pale green eggs in a plant fiber and leaf nest lined with grass. It is usually placed on the ground at the base of a bush or in a stunted spruce tree.

The song of the Harris’s Sparrow is a series of one to four clear whistles, often with a drawn-out whistle followed by one to three shorter whistles. Call is a loud, “wenk”. They often sit in the tops of bushes and trees to sing.

These large handsome sparrows are favorites at eastern feeders since they rarely stray so far from their normal mid-western range. If they show up in the east they’re usually with other sparrows or juncos.

Harris’s Sparrows were named by John James Audubon for Edward Harris, who accompanied him on his western trip in 1843.

I had the unforgettable experience with a Harris’s Sparrow when one decided to show up at our feeders in Holmes County, Ohio.