How do birds manage to survive when it is so cold outside? I asked myself that question early yesterday morning as I walked along the exposed boardwalk at Huntley Meadows Park. The wind was blowing hard and the temperature was about 20 degrees F (minus 7 degrees C).
The landscape was empty and desolate and seemed to have little to offer as potential sources of food. Suddenly I noticed a small group of sparrows. They would fly to a spot together and then individually forage among the dried out plants, including those sticking out of the ice. After a short period of frenetic activity, they would move on to another spot.
Initially, I knelt and tried to get some shots of the sparrows that were standing on the ice and reaching up into the vegetation. A bit later, I was able to capture some images of a sparrow perched on some plants in a more exposed position.
I am not really sure what kind of sparrows these are. Earlier in the day I saw some sparrows that I could identify as White-throated Sparrows, but these birds seem to have a different set of markings. After looking at my guidebooks, I have concluded that these may be Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia) and would welcome comments from more experienced birders on the identification, especially if I have misidentified the birds.
How do these little birds survive during the winter? From what I can see, they do their part by working hard as they forage for food and God provides for their needs.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Nice photos Mike! It is a wonder how these little birds manage to find food in such barren landscapes, let’s hope that they are able to survive well!
Hiya Mike… back in the early part of this century here in the UK we were seeing a decline in the common garden house sparrows. Which is rather a shame as I love watching these little birds in action. For such little birds they sure know how to stand their ground. We still don’t see many now in 2015. I do hope they are not going to end up one of the extinct breeds of birds.
Great photos, love how you have captured them xx
Thanks for your kind words. A lot of folks don’t pay much attention to the common “brown birds” like the sparrow, but I find them to be a lot of fun to watch. When you look closely, too, I discovered, they are quite beautiful too.
It must be so hard to have to forage in such harsh weather. I read a theory once that humans were probably happier as hunter gatherers than as farmers.
I think you are correct that it is a song sparrow. Your pictures are better than my book.
You raise some really good questions, the photo series is really interesting.
There are many millions of seeds out there for the small birds and I’d guess that the seed eaters have the easiest time of it. Fruit eaters might have a harder time but there was a lot of fruit available too as we went into winter.
I am amazed how these little birds survive the cold harsh winter… back here in the UK earlier this century the numbers of common house garden sparrows were diminishing… Even though we do have some around.. there doesn’t seem to be that many now… I love watching this feisty little birds… they may be small but my god can they put up a fight… Great Photos Mike…
Nice articular Mike and bravo on the images. They are very crisp.