Date: 11/26/25 3:29 pm From: Kim Thorburn via Tweeters <tweeters...> Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Savannah sparrows in winter?
Western Washington, yes. I was quite surprised, though, by a couple of Savannah Sparrows (mixed in with a few American Tree Sparrows) on a cold, foggy day last week on the northern end of the Douglas Plateau . The habitat was right. Maybe distracted by the mild fall weather.
Kim
Kim Marie Thorburn, MD, MPH
Spokane, WA
(509) 465-3025 home
(509) 599-6721 cell
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From: Tweeters <tweeters-bounces...> on behalf of Dennis Paulson via Tweeters <tweeters...>
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2025 2:18 PM
To: Julia H <azureye...>
Cc: TWEETERS tweeters <tweeters...>
Subject: Re: [Tweeters] Savannah sparrows in winter?
Julia, small numbers of Savannah Sparrows winter widely in western Washington (like the alliteration?), all the way north into southwestern BC. I would expect them only in wide-open grassy areas, but if those are present, there could be Savannahs there.
Dennis Paulson
Seattle
On Nov 26, 2025, at 2:02 PM, Julia H via Tweeters <tweeters...><mailto:<tweeters...>> wrote:
I was surprised to see an ebird checklist for a local (Seattle) park that included savannah sparrow.
In my experience I never see savannah sparrows in Seattle in winter, which would seem to make sense based on their feeding patterns (I'm not sure how they'd survive winter!), and this range map from Cornell seems to agree: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Savannah_Sparrow/maps-range
