In most bird species, the upper and lower bill are the same colour. The all-pink-billed Field Sparrow or the all-black-billed Chipping Sparrow for example.

At Downsview this morning, we saw a species where the lower bill is yellow and the upper bill is black: the American Tree Sparrow.

Tree Sparrows spend the winter months with us but breed near the Hudson Bay coast.

Other birds:

Park views:

Some botany:

Today’s group:

NATURE POETRY

A Harlequin Duck

Comedy to artless lives

on a cold, dark lake. – Karen Eckert

Miles Hearn