Chipping Sparrows breeding Arapahoe County

[Carol Blackard]

Hi all,
Our Centennial, Arapahoe Cty neighborhood now has a pair of breeding Chipping Sparrows.

Last summer I oddly kept hearing a Chipping Sparrow sing all through June. This year our first Chipping Sparrow arrived to our ash tree singing exuberantly and unceasingly while other ChSp spent their two weeks break here eating on the giant dandelion patch across the street. Eventually there was the expected migratory exodus, except for the singing bird who seemed to have settled in down the street a few houses. Today I watched an adult ChSp feeding a juvenile in plain view on the ground 12 feet away.
So, Chipping Sparrows join Bushtits and Mountain Chickadees as more recent breeders in our urban neighborhood. We live near Colorado Blvd and Mineral in Centennial.

Carol Blackard
carolblackard.com
Sent from my iPhone

[Meredith McBurney]

On Neighborhood Nestwatch visits in June, I documented breeding Chipping Sparrows at three different houses south of Denver (one in each Centennial, Englewood and Highlands Ranch), including one feeding a baby Cowbird.  I believe Colin also had some on his visits.  This was the third year of the project and the first year we've found Chipping Sparrows like this.

Meredith McBurney

Biologist and Bander

Bird Conservancy of the Rockies

[David Suddjian]

I will add that Chipping Sparrow is a regular breeder at several locations in the City of Littleton, Arapahoe County, the most notable being a metropulos of Chippers at Littleton Cemetery, where there are many pairs documented nesting in 2018-2019. About 10 pairs are nesting there this year. Other sites are along the Prince Street corridor and in adjacent "mature"  neighborhoods. In these areas of Littleton their favored habitats is medium to large conifers (pines or spruce) with areas of open grass or lawn. The more lawn and more conifers, the better. Thus, Littleton Cemetery is prime and I think unique habitat in Littleton.

Prior to 2018 eBird shows very little evidence of the species in Littleton in the heart of the local nesting season (June to early July), but it may be key that Littleton Cemetery was not covered hardly at all in the nesting season until 2018. Anyway, there is more to the story there. 

David Suddjian

Littleton, CO

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[KevyG...@aol.com]

Piling on to the Centennial Chippers reports... This past winter was the first time Chipping Sparrows persisted throughout the season in my little townhouse yard near Holly & Arapahoe.  And like the other folks' reports, these sparrows have stuck and are now breeding in my neighbor's tree.  They like my suet...

Kevin Corwin

west Centennial

On Monday, July 8, 2019 at 12:59:18 PM UTC-6, Carol wrote: