Our Winter Bird Highlights, summarizing the results from the 2022-23 season, is now online.
Find out what Project FeederWatch is, its history, and more
Find out how you FeederWatch, when you can FeederWatch, and what you'll need to do to get started
Review these instructions carefully before you count and enter data
Find out about types of feeders and types of foods, and where to place your feeder
Feeding Birds FAQs
Explore the winter distribution, food, and feeder preferences of common feeder birds.
Find out about color and plumage variations, bald heads, and deformed bills
Unusual Birds Gallery
Find out about bird disease and identifying the signs of bird disease
Sick Birds Gallery
Find out how to identify birds and download identification tools
Learn how to help birds as they seek out food sources, nesting habitat, protection, and more
Find educational resources for teachers, group leaders, and families
Find an article archive packed with lots of great bird study information
Learn about house finch eye disease
Review content from current and past BirdSpotter photo contests
Keep up to date with the latest FeederWatch happenings
These are exemplary FeederWatchers!
Send us your photos! Show us your count site, your birds, or you watching your site with loved ones!
Visit our live FeederWatch feedercams!
Cornell Lab of Ornithology feeders
Ontario (winter only)
See what birds occur the most by region
Explore species by state/province
See where FeederWatchers are
Graphs of regional population trends and distributions
Explore papers that have used FeederWatch data
Lab scientists analyze the data submitted by FeederWatch participants.
See birds well outside their winter range submitted to Project FeederWatch.
Start here for data entry and personal data review and exploration
Keep live track of your counts using the FeederWatch mobile app
Diane Traina
Ithaca, Tompkins County, NY, United States
This House Sparrow has been showing up at my feeders for a few months now. He has a patch of grey fluffy feathers on his right side. At first, I thought they were juvenile feathers that were going to fall off but they have continued to come back in strangely, although not quite as fluffy as they were initially. I’m curious about what is causing this. I have more pictures if you need them.
Other
House Sparrow with grey, fluffy side patch.
I also have pictures of house sparrows with a lot of get grey feathers and coloration. Do you have slate dark-eyed juncos in the area? These two birds often produce hybrids, which results in these grey-ish house sparrows.
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