Winter Birds: White-throated Sparrow, Nuthatch, Tufted Titmouse

White-throated Sparrow





Tufted Titmice


White Breasted Nuthatch

When it snows, or when we want the birds to come up to the deck, we leave out nyjer, peanuts, and sunflower seeds for the winter birds in addition to the safflower, suet and nyjer in the feeders. The juncos prefer the nyjer and the cardinals prefer the sunflower seeds. Blue jays, red bellied woodpeckers and tufted titmice like the peanuts. The nuthatch will visit the suet and the feeders but rarely comes to the deck. The blue jays can be quite aggressive with the peanuts, but Mike got a photo of a nice pair of tufted titmice enjoying them without the blue jays interfering.

More Birds from Brigantine on a Lovely (but brisk) Fall Morning

Yellow Rumped Warbler

White-throated Sparrow

Hermit Thrush

Savannah Sparrow

Snow Birds

Carolina Wren

White-throated Sparrow

Red Bellied Woodpecker

Some birds head south for the winter; others adapt to the New Jersey winter with the cold and snow. We do make sure we have plenty of food out for the birds. In the top photo, a Carolina wren takes refuge in the duck house we put up (that no duck has ever used). In the middle, a sparrow digs through the snow for some seed. We did clear the railing and leave some seed, but it quickly got covered. In the bottom photo, a red bellied woodpecker enjoys a peanut.

More Photos of Winter Birds in NJ

Carolina Wren


White-throated Sparrow

The Carolina Wren and the White-throated Sparrow are common birds in New Jersey in the winter but harder to photograph because they rarely come to bird feeders and spend most of their time in the underbrush.

White-throated Sparrow

 

A few white-throated sparrows have been feeding in our yard. We've also been serenaded by a series of long high-pitched notes, almost like the spaceships on "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Mike eventually saw one of the sparrows making this call.

White-throated Sparrow

If it was up to me, this wouldn't be called the white-throated sparrow. It would be the yellow-foreheaded sparrow.