A very special Field Sparrow

8/14/2026

Recently at BSBO's Oak Openings breeding bird banding site, our team recaptured an exceptionally old Field Sparrow. At 9 years and 1 month old, he's possibly the oldest Field Sparrow we've had at the site! He was originally banded at this location in June 2017 as a hatching year bird (hatched that year), with a first return in July 2025 (where he was determined to be male), and a second return this July.

He's got a couple more summers to go before setting a new longevity record for the species. But just try to think about it... All the things this humble sparrow has seen and avoided. Seed-sodden fields found; brutal winters and predators evaded. Some Field Sparrows remain in Ohio for winter, but many depart for southerly states. How many thousands of miles has this bird traveled back and forth each year, just to eventually make it back to the same field he was hatched in?

Sparrows don't always get the same admiration as other birds, but they accomplish the same feats and push through the same hardships. Moments and sparrows like this remind us that every bird has a story waiting to be revealed. And through banding, that story has an opportunity to be told.

You can support BSBO's research efforts through our Sponsor a Mist Net program: https://www.bsbo.org/sponsor-a-mist-net.html

0 Comments

ABOUT THE
NAVARRE MARSH BANDING STATION

The Observatory's primary banding station is located in Navarre Marsh behind the Davis Besse Nuclear Power Station on Toledo Edison property. Migration monitoring consists of constant effort mist netting and migration point counts (5 minute counts at 6 locations at the research site).

Habitat is remnant beach ridge consisting of canopy trees of Hackberry, Kentucky Coffeetree, and Cottonwood with tremendous under story of rough-leaved Dogwood on the sand ridges. This is similar to the vegetation found on the well-known beach ridge of the Magee Marsh Bird Wildlife Area where the world-famous boardwalk is situated.

Two other remnant beach ridge habitats in Northwest Ohio are the Darby unit of the Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge and the Cedar Point National Wildlife Refuge. The Navarre beach ridge is the largest of them all occupying about 370 acres of wetland and beach ridge habitat.

The Navarre Marsh Migration Monitoring Station is on private property and not open to the public; however, we are able to give access to research students when special arrangements are made in advance.

We'd love to hear from you! Let us know how you like the BSBO Bird Bander's Blog by emailing us at: [email protected].

BSBO Research Blog