[mou] Carolina wren sighting and song sparrow question, Hennepin County

[Christine Petersen]

Had a lovely little Carolina wren in the front yard this morning. This was
the first time I've seen this species on our property, though I understand
that there have been some other metro sightings recently.

I watched him for about half an hour as he flitted between the two groups o=
f
red cedars flanking our front deck and walkway, into a small hollow at the
base of a large box elder tree in the middle of the yard, and to the feeder
by our front door. I'm assuming he took seeds, as he was on the feeder for
about 45 seconds -- but I can't be sure since he perched on the far side. A=
t
one point he took up a perch on a small branch of the box elder and belted
out a song, though I couldn't hear the details of it through the
double-paned storm windows. It was impressive to watch=8Bhe put his whole bod=
y
into it: tail tucked down, head thrown back, feathers on his crown rising
up, chest swelling. (I say "he" though I know this could be a sexist
assumption when it comes to this species -- I think I read that the females
sometimes sing, too?)

Here's a question for those of you who know your sparrows well: I was rathe=
r
confounded by a song sparrow that showed up in the yard the other day. It
was turned slightly to the side so my perspective might have been skewed,
but it looked as though the breast spot was on the right side rather than i=
n
the center. Does anyone have information about the position of the spot
being variable?

Christine Petersen
on the shores of Glen Lake, Minnetonka, Hennepin Co.