San Gregorio Ranch Gets a Very Unusual Feathered Visitor

January 6, 2012 at 3:37 pm · Filed under Agriculture, cowell purisima, Wildlife Protection and tagged: birds, California, California Coastal Conservancy, conservation

Local birders alerted us that at least one Harris’s Sparrow, whose normal winter habitat is a narrow strip of the Great Plains, has taken up at Cascade Ranch in the near POST-protected properties Whaler’s Cove and the Cowell-Purisima Trail. Rancher Nando Muzzi runs Cascade Ranch under a conservation easement held by the California Coastal Conservancy.

The handsome Harris’s Sparrow appears to have come west to enjoy some bugs, which are, in turn, feasting on rotting Brussels sprouts. (Yummy!)

Since the big sparrows are rarely seen anywhere near California, birders have been coming from far and wide to add the species to their “seen” lists. Both Mr. Muzzi and the property owner (and former POST board member), Steve Blank, are being kind enough to let birders onto the property to check old “Harry” out!

Some interesting facts about the Harris’s Sparrow: It’s the only bird in the world that breeds exclusively in Canada. It does so along the edge of boreal forest and tundra in north-central Canada. Sadly, the boreal forest is being hit hard by climate change, so the bird may be attempting to adapt.

In winter, the sparrows observe a very clear hierarchy to determine who gets first access to food: The oldest males get the worm — or seed, or bug.  California is a very unusual place for them to end up, but since the birds often winter in agricultural fields and pastures, Cascade Ranch must have looked like the right spot to be.

If you do go ogle the Harris’s Sparrow, stop and take in the view at Whaler’s Cove or do the easy, beautiful coastal hike on Cowell-Purisima Trail!

You can also learn more about this and other birds on Cornell University’s incredible ornithology website.

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