Although they have been here since October, it isn’t until the snow flies and the feeder is full that we begin to see the “snow birds” regularly. I am referring to those small birds you will soon find feeding beneath your feeders on spilled sunflower bits or millet. Two species, the white-throated sparrow and the dark-eyed junco are common here all winter, but the fox sparrow, often considered a “snow bird,” is rarely seen after late autumn.

Unlike the smaller white-throated sparrows and the dark-eyed juncos, the fox sparrow is a mid-sized ground feeder with a bold, almost rufous coloring and heavy brown streaking. They are less common in urban Connecticut. Like the other two “snow birds,” the fox sparrow breeds to our north and migrates into Connecticut. While the fox sparrow often migrates farther south, juncos and white-throats tend to winter across the entire region.

Sometime in early October, dark-eyed juncos gathered in boreal forests and took to the skies. They migrated at night, separating from their flock once en route, and returned to where they wintered the previous year. Juncos maintain a pecking order and are interesting to watch. Though often overlooked, juncos are constantly maneuvering about their echelons of power. Males dominate females, and older birds dominate juveniles. Look for tail fanning and face-to-face confrontations. You can distinguish the males by their darker, all gray coloring.

The junco is a different bird in breeding season. The male's trill begins before the last star fades into the dawn and doesn't stop until the first star appears at night. People are surprised that juncos are incessant singers. The white-throated sparrow also sings. In the dense growths of spruce nestled along the myriad small streams that comprise the northern bogs, the semi-plaintive song of the white-throated sparrow defines the north.

They sing in their breeding range — at places I like to fish, such as Indian Stream, along the headwaters of the Connecticut, within the Connecticut Lakes region, and east of there, behind the Magalloway, to the far north beyond the logging roads of Jackman, Maine and the Allagash. In these woods, the brown-backed, white-and-black crowned birds sing forever into the summer dusk.

The white-throated sparrow is a favorite of mine, which is why I was thrilled when I recently read that Roger Tory Peterson was also very fond of the bird. The great ornithologist, known for his illustrations in numerous field guides, routinely kept close tabs on the white-throats that frequented his property in Old Lyme.

From the book "Where Blue Birds Fly," written by Roger’s step-daughter, Linda Marie Westervelt, I offer the following quote:

“While Roger painted and wrote in the studio, he also kept an office at the main house. There his desk fronted a picture window overlooking forsythia bushes, and he loved to watch the white-throated sparrows migrate into those bushes each fall. Roger’s studio assistant, Liz Gentile, kept the 'whitethroats' happy in winter, sprinkling seed under the branches to protect the birds from aerial predators.”

Roger is reported to have cared so much for his white-throated sparrows that on bitterly cold nights he worried about them.

While it may seem these lowly ground feeding “snow birds” are not worthy to compete for our attention against the brilliant colored and flashy blue jay or cardinal, they do, in fact, have their own special charm. So keep an eye out for them when the snow begins. It will be one way to honor Connecticut’s very own-the late Roger Tory Peterson.

Robert Tougias is a Colchester-based birder. His book "Birder on Berry Lane" is now available. You can ask him questions at roberts90gtias@yahoo.com.