Bird lovers have spoken, and the official champion of Wisconsin Fat Bird Week 2025 is Spherical White-throated Sparrow.
Online voting in the contest was held from May 2 through May 9. Voters chose their favorite of eight chonky birds in a bracket-style, head-to-head competition organized by the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin and SOS Save Our Songbirds.
“The contest is similar to March Madness, but for Wisconsin’s native birds,” according to a news release from the Natural Resources Foundation that announced the winner.
The contest was also based on the Famous Fat Bear Week, which highlights bears at Katmai National Park and Preserve in Alaska.
Both the bear and bird competitions are done for fun, but they also have a serious side. The animals put on weight for survival reasons. Bears beef up for winter hibernation, while birds build bulk for the energy needed for their winter migrations. Those that stay put for the cold season plump up by fluffing their feathers to stay warm.
The sparrow received 72% of the votes in the final round, thrashing the Rotund Ruby-throated Hummingbird, which received 28%.
Wisconsin Fat Bird Week is held during spring migration times to “raise awareness about people can help Wisconsin’s birds thrive,” said Shelly Torkelson, communications director fo the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin in a news release.
Organizers of Wisconsin Fat Bird Week gave voters practical tips on how to help Wisconsin birds thrive. They recommended native plants people can grow, gave suggestions about how to help avoid avian window collisions and told coffee lovers how to find bird-friendly coffees to brew.
Other contestants included the Neckless Northern Cardinal (eliminated in round one); Dark-eyed Junco in the Trunko (eliminated in round five) and Pudgy Pine Warbler (eliminated in round four).
The contest also helped the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin and SOS Save Our Songbirds to encourage people to go birding doing the organization’s fundraising Great Wisconsin Birdathon event. The Birdathon runs through June 15.
For more information about Wisconsin Fat Bird Week, go to wisconservation.org/fatbirdweek.
Keith Uhlig has been writing about Wisconsin, its people and all it has to offer since 2000. Raised in Colby, he loves wandering around the state. He can be reached at kuhlig@gannett.com, and is on Facebook, X and Threads.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Spherical White-throated Sparrow flies away with honors for Wisconsin Fat Bird Week 2025
Reporting by Keith Uhlig, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
