White-crowned sparrow returns for the winter

To a birder like me, one of the most wonderful things about living in southeastern Arizona is that it's right  in the middle of a migratory path. As if the the Sonoran desert wasn't already bursting with avian full-time residents, hundreds of species pass through here in the spring and fall traveling back and forth from their nesting areas farther north or in higher elevations to their winter homes here in southeastern Arizona or farther south in Mexico and South America. I find MORE birds in the back yard in December than I do in July.

Last spring, I had one straggling white-crowned sparrow who seemed  reluctant to leave the bounty of my bird feeders for his nesting ground farther north. Last Sunday, I spotted one lone white-crowned sparrow--the first to return for the winter. He's not banded, but I would bet money, it's my straggler!

A white-crowned sparrow appeared September 29, 2012