I spent several hours early this morning (13 July) observing fledgling
Grasshopper Sparrows on the Yakima Training Center. Because of training,
there are or have been frequent fires over several large parts of the
300,000+ acre installation. Rejuvenating shrub-steppe is just what
Grasshopper Sparrows seem to like (and since white folk arrived, certain
tumble mustard and bunchgrass, ie. weedy fields also).

I have never had the opportunity to focus on Grasshopper Sparrows in July
before - usually I note them singing as they arrive in late April and
through May and then they just sort of disappear. I located 2-3 recently
fledged juveniles this am and noted their call note is the most insect-like
of Washington's common sparrows. Nearby juvenile Brewer's Sparrows have a
protracted (sort of trilly) liquid note, Vesper definitely a more liquid
chip and Sage almost a junco-like smack. One of the parents was bringing 3
cm-long caterpiller-like insect to these youngsters which lacked the
pronounced head streakings of the adults. And the warm tones of the adult
were replaced by more grayish in these juveniles. Otherwise, structurally
they were Grasshopper Sparrows through and through.

It amazes me how this species can slip in and out of Washington almost
unoticed. The same seems to hold for Oregon where their recent BIRDS OF
OREGON: Status and distribution notes them as "essentially unreported in
migration in Oregon."

I'll try to keep an eye out for these birds this month to note when they
depart. I'm curious also if they join the mixed-species flocks (Brewer's,
Vesper, Lark,and Sage Sparrows) of shrub-steppe passerines that rove the
sagelands in August and early September, presumably as they are drifting
south out of the state. Anyone out there have info on this question?

Andy Stepniewski
Wapato WA