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Birds that migrate through Ohio — sparrows, kinglets and winter finches

Nothing on this chart is in passage today. The corridors are quiet, which is itself a season.

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Sparrows, kinglets and winter finches Fox SparrowPasserella iliaca · Breeds: the boreal forest and taiga · Winters: the south-eastern statesSpring passage — peak Mar 20Fall passage — peak Oct 30 White-throated SparrowZonotrichia albicollis · Breeds: the boreal forest · Winters: the eastern states — and a good many stay in OhioSpring passage — peak Apr 25Fall passage — peak Oct 15 White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys · Breeds: the subarctic scrub · Winters: the southern statesSpring passage — peak May 8Fall passage — peak Oct 15 Dark-eyed JuncoJunco hyemalis · Breeds: the boreal forest, and a few in the Ohio hemlock gorges · Winters: Ohio, in every dooryard in the statePresent in Ohio through the winterPresent in Ohio through the winterSpring passage — peak Apr 1Fall passage — peak Oct 20 American Tree Sparrow ↓Spizelloides arborea · Breeds: the Arctic tree line · Winters: Ohio fields and hedgerowsPresent in Ohio through the winterPresent in Ohio through the winterSpring passage — peak Mar 15Fall passage — peak Nov 15 Ruby-crowned KingletCorthylio calendula · Breeds: the boreal spruce forest · Winters: the southern states and MexicoSpring passage — peak Apr 18Fall passage — peak Oct 10 Pine SiskinSpinus pinus · Breeds: the boreal and montane conifer forest · Winters: wherever the cone crop failed — which is not the same place twicePresent in Ohio through the winterPresent in Ohio through the winterSpring passage — peak Apr 15Fall passage — peak Nov 1
NorthboundPresent in OhioSouthboundWintering in OhioToday↓ marks a species that winters off the bottom of the map. Hover a name for where it breeds and where it goes.

Sparrows, kinglets and winter finches are the bookends of the songbird year — they move before the warblers arrive and after they have gone, and several of them stay all winter. The finches are the one genuinely unpredictable group on the chart: their movements are driven by northern seed crops rather than by the calendar.

Why this group has its own gauge

It is the only songbird guild with birds present in Ohio in January. The chart above carries 7 species, sliced out of the full 67-row bird chart.

The rows on this chart
Species Northbound Southbound Winters
Fox Sparrow 1 March – 15 April 5 October – 25 November the south-eastern states
White-throated Sparrow 25 March – 15 May 20 September – 15 November the eastern states — and a good many stay in Ohio
White-crowned Sparrow 20 April – 25 May 25 September – 10 November the southern states
Dark-eyed Junco 15 March – 25 April 25 September – 10 November Ohio, in every dooryard in the state
American Tree Sparrow 1 March – 5 April 25 October – 5 December Ohio fields and hedgerows
Ruby-crowned Kinglet 30 March – 10 May 20 September – 5 November the southern states and Mexico
Pine Siskin 20 March – 10 May 5 October – 1 December wherever the cone crop failed — which is not the same place twice

Where this sits

The full picture is on Ohio bird migration, which carries every group on one chart. Each mark on the breadcrumb strip at the top of the site links to the page for its own group.