Chippy is Back

[clever...@gmail.com]

I noticed a chipping sparrow just killing time on our window feeder today. When I went to open the window, it hopped over and before I could get a mealworm ready was sitting on the window frame, looking in. This had to be Chippy, a chipping sparrow that raised a family last year on the mealworms we provided and even brought the fledglings to the feeder to dine.

 

 

As you can see in the attached video, we formalized this arrangement into sort of a fast food drive-up window service, although in this case I guess it would have to be called fly-up window service.

 

Later, when I stepped out onto our deck, he/she saw me, flew over to the railing next to me and - when I was too slow for his taste - flew onto my shoulder and patiently waited there while I dug out some mealworms. As it did throughout the day, it grabbed two, flew down to the ground and rearranged them to make room for a third worm, which it procured when it flew back up onto my hand before departing for a presumed nest.

 

Interestingly, Chippy didn’t start coming to the feeder until June 29 last year, or start carrying off multiple mealworms until July 4. It makes me wonder if that wasn’t a second brood last year, or perhaps a renesting attempt after a failed first attempt.

 

Steve Wilson

Isabella