White throated sparrow takes first place in fattest bird competition

['Clara Lincolnhol', 'Great Lakes Echo', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width', 'Vertical-Align Bottom .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow .Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar'] Great Lakes Echo 2025-06-03 00:00:00

This ‘spherical white-throated sparrow’ was crowned winner of the 2025 Wisconsin Fat Bird Week contest. Credit: Natural Resources Foundation of WisconsinBy Clara LincolnholA very round white throated sparrow is the heavyweight champion of the 2025 Wisconsin Fat Bird Week contest. The Fat Bird Week Contest celebrates Wisconsin’s native bird species and also aims to educate the public on ways to help them, said Emma Schatz, the digital communications coordinator at the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin. “We thought Fat Bird Week could be a fun way to engage the community in a light-hearted thing, but then also incorporate that educational piece of learning the different ways to help protect Wisconsin’s birds,” Schatz said. In 2024 the foundation partnered with SOS Save Our Songbirds, a conservation organization that aims to protect birds, and started Fat Bird Week.