Spring has sprung at Litzsinger Road Ecology Center. Several woodland flowers are in bloom, the trees and bushes have leafed out and a chorus of birdsong fills the air. Out in the prairie the Eurasian Tree Sparrows are busy at work in the nestboxes. Our feathered friends have been building nests, laying and incubating eggs and now raising chicks! There are chicks in 7 of the 12 boxes scattered across the Litzsinger property. By March 1st there was already nesting material in the boxes and the chicks have hatched at least one week earlier than last year. Because this is only our second year monitoring the boxes in earnest, (I posted an entry last year. See it here) we do not know whether or not the birds’ early activity is due to the unseasonably warm weather we had back in February and March. It will be interesting to watch the trends in nesting and chick activity in the years to come.
This is the youngest clutch and they are no more than a day old. These tiny birds will grow quickly and leave the nest in another 2 weeks.

Photo by Lyndell Badewall
In this photo you can see what a different a few days can make. These little birds are probably about 5 days old.

Photo by Lyndell Badewall
This chick is probably about a week old.

Lyndell Badewall, a fellow LREC volunteer and undergraduate UMSL student has been assisting me in my monitoring endeavor and through Lyndell we are going to be able to band these birds. Each bird receives 3 color-coded bands. The site’s designated color (orange for LREC) goes on the left leg and 2 different colored bands go on the right leg. Each color combination is unique and makes it easy for us to track the bird’s movement habits, nesting activity and even its age through observation of the colored bands.

Last week we banded 4 chicks and this week we plan to band 6 more clutches worth of chicks. It will be interesting to keep up with our feathered friends and their day-to-day habits. If you happen to see a Eurasian Tree Sparrow in the upcoming weeks and months, look for the colored bands and report your sightings. We’ll be happy to share your enthusiasm for our special friends.
This looks to be a promising season so I will post notes on the blog this spring and summer on continued activity in the nest boxes.