I’m fascinated with Harris’s Sparrows. They have a unique look (has a black bib and pink bill), and while common in Arkansas, they are not easy to find. At least for me.

I got my first look at one during the recent Lonoke County Christmas Bird Count. We were driving down a narrow country road when we spotted a flock of sparrows on the road and ditchway ahead of us. That flock included one lone Harris’s Sparrow.

The Harris’s Sparrow is North America’s largest sparrow except for towhees. AllAboutBirds.org reports that it is the only songbird that breeds in Canada and nowhere else in the world. It breeds in the tundra/boreal zones of northern Canada, while wintering from Nebraska to Texas and migrating through the central United States.