Every year, spring bird migration brings lots of surprise visitors to Florida. This year was a fairly slow year as far as migration goes for the west coast of Florida. An easterly flow of winds pushed most of our usual spring visitors farther west, or some birds had just enough of a southerly wind to continue past Florida altogether.
The migration is a race for the males to claim and establish the best nest sites to attract a female. Well, along with that, storms to the north can also push birds either further south or off course altogether. That was the case in early May when an American Tree Sparrow showed up at Honeymoon Island State Park in Palm Harbor. The sighting was the first county record of an American Tree Sparrow ever in Pinellas County. It was a delight to see and observe this bird, as it is usually found in the northern United States in winter.
These sparrows breed in the tundra of extreme portions of Canada and throughout Alaska. Like most other sparrows, much of their diet is seeds, and it was interesting seeing them kick through the dirt to find buried seeds. A rufous/rusty orange cap on the head is a good identifier for this species, along with a bicolored bill and a ring of rufous feathers on the side of the face. It just goes to show that spring migration can bring any number of surprises to Florida!