Birds of Sunset Park: October is for Lincoln’s Sparrows

In last month’s column, I talked a little about my background as a birder in Sunset Park, and the featured bird of the month for September, the Black-throated Green Warbler. I’m happy to report that since then, Black-throated Greens have returned in good numbers to the park, and I recently had the pleasure of watching a pair of them forage low in the huge elm in the center of the main lawn, so close that I didn’t need binoculars!

We’re now in the heart of fall migration, which has a different rhythm and feel from its spring counterpart. While spring migration is brief and intense, fall migration is longer and more protracted. In spring, birds are singing and in their gaudiest plumage, trying to attract a mate; in fall, they’re silent and many have molted into more muted colors. That means it can be harder and more confusing to work out what bird is what… but you also have more time.

Birding teaches you to be patient — with the birds, but also with yourself. I missed or failed to ID so many birds when I was starting out, but it spurred me to learn more and get better. It’s always good to observe and note to yourself the field marks on a bird, whether you know what it is or not; this helps you work out what a bird is if you don’t already know, or if you do, to solidify your understanding of what constitutes that ID. To that end, binoculars are essential; if you have the luxury of a camera, that definitely helps, but you can also use your phone and bins together to photograph birds you can’t immediately identify. (There are good resources online on how to do this.)

October is an exciting time, as sparrow migration is now fully underway. And I should clarify that I’m talking about New World sparrows, which does not include the much maligned House Sparrows, which are not native to this country and actually belong to a completely different group of birds. New World sparrows are a diverse and beautiful family; there are 43 New World sparrow species in the US, 12 of which I have seen in Sunset Park.

Though not the rarest of those dozen, possibly my favorite is the Lincoln’s Sparrow. Seeing my first Lincoln’s in Sunset Park was a eureka moment for me; I’d seen one in Green-Wood Cemetery on a bird walk, but hadn’t dreamed that I might encounter one on my home patch! It was foraging by the fence on the 41st Street side of the park, and I got to admire its little “mohawk,” the peaked crown which they often display. I got no pictures of it that day, but have had the pleasure of seeing many other Lincoln’s in the park since, including the individual pictured, which I photographed in October 2022. It was hanging out in a blue spruce, showing off its trademark subtle streaking on the breast, which sets it apart from the sometimes similar looking juvenile Song Sparrow, which also has a streaked breast. The cheat code to tell the two apart is the streaking on a young Song Sparrow looks like it was done with a colored pencil, whereas on a Lincoln’s, it’s with a fine-tipped pen.

I love company when I’m out birding, so if you want to tag along or just keep up on when Lincoln’s Sparrows and other top-tier species are being seen in the park, use this link to join the Sunset Park Birds WhatsApp group. Happy birding!