Nature Notes From Crater Lake - Volume 13, October 1947

Crater Lake Institute online library - www.craterlakeinstitute.com

 

Fox Sparrows Breeding on the Rim
By Dr. R. R. Huestis, Ranger-Naturalist
 

On July 30, Park Naturalist George C. Ruhle identified a fox sparrow, Passerella iliaca, sub. sp., on the rim walk just east of Crater Lake Lodge. The writer, who was a member of the field party being led by Mr. Ruhle, went back to the area on the morning of July 1 to see if the bird was still there. This special trip was prompted by knowledge of the fact that fox sparrows had not been reported even as transients in the rim area during the seven summers in which the writer has been a seasonally employed ranger-naturalist at Crater Lake National Park.

On July 1 at 8:30 A.M. a singing male, presumably the one identified by Mr. Ruhle, was seen on a small mountain hemlock close to the rim walk; near him was a female, presumably the second bird that was heard but not observed the previous day. This female was carrying food and while the writer watched she signaled out of cover and fed a young bird apparently in juvenile plumage. After an interval of about two minutes the female reappeared with food, made contact with, and fed a young bird this time in the cover of a clump of small mountain hemlocks and herbaceous shrubs close to the rim walk. The observer was within twenty feet of the birds involved in these two important episodes in the lives of avian young.

A prior report upon Passerella within Crater Lake National Park was made by Joseph Dixon who collected a fall migrant Valdez Fox Sparrow in 1936. The present family group was not broken to provide a bird in hand. The probability is that this report concerns P. I. fulva, Warner Mountains Fox Sparrow.