Chipping Sparrow, University of Delaware, Laird Campus

A chipping sparrow singing on the ground next to the base of a pine tree trunk, with pine needle litter, grass, a few other plants, and a utility hole cover on the right

May 20th, 2006, by Alex Zorach

This photo shows a chipping sparrow, Spizella passerina, singing at the base of a pine tree. The maintenance hole on the right betrays the fact that this is in a human-maintained area, and not a natural ecosystem. This area was located on the University of Delaware's Laird Campus (north campus), near the entrance to the Pencader dining hall building, in Newark, DE.

This chipping sparrow held a territory here until the University of Delaware commenced construction on some of the new dorms. In the process of the construction, this tree was taken down and the surrounding environment was altered in such a way that there was no longer any suitable habitat for a chipping sparrow's territory in this area. Although chipping sparrow is an abundant species, including locally (one can find plenty of chipping sparrow habitats around the edge of the Laird Campus), I was still sad when this particular habitat was lost.

This photo also shows some other plants, including some chickweed, which may have been sprayed by herbicide, in the lower-right, and an Oxalis stricta plant, showing a single bloom and some seeds, just below and to the left of the sparrow.