Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
- IdentificationVisual tips about this species
- BehaviourHabitat, behaviour, and food
- PopulationSubspecies and numbers
- ReproductionNesting and eggs
Identification
This rather stocky, round-headed sparrow is very variable but is usually heavily streaked, with a stripy face pattern and rufous wings. Adult birds can usually be told by an obvious dark central spot on the streaked breast. Compared to the birds seen in eastern America, those in the Aleutians are larger and darker, and birds in the southwestern U.S. smaller and lighter. All subspecies and variations show long, rounded tails that they pump in flight, broad, grayish eyebrows and dark malar stripes bordering a whitish throat.
Voice
As its name indicates, it is a songster with a wide repertoire. Usually singing three or four short, clear notes, followed by a trill, its song, like its size and color, varies greatly from population to population.
Length
6.25in
Migration
Present throughout much of its U.S. range year-round. Canadian and some northern U.S. populations move to the southern U.S. and extreme northern Mexico to winter. Spring movement is primarily in March and April, and fall movement from mid-September to mid-November.
Habitat
Found in gardens, parks, marshes, thickets and at roadside, showing a strong preference for brushy overgrown areas.
Food
Insects, spiders and seeds. Coastal populations also feed on mollusks and crustaceans.
Population trends
The Song Sparrow is abundant and widespread.
Where in US
An abundant sparrow in most of North America. Canadian and some northern U.S. populations move to the southern U.S. and extreme northern Mexico to winter.
Nests
The nest is a well-constructed cup of grass and leaves, lined with finer grasses, rootlets and hair. The earlier nest of the season is usually built on the ground, concealed under a tuft of grass or a bush. Subsequent nests are often in shrubs or bushes, usually at a height of less than four ft.
Eggs
3-5 pale green eggs, heavily speckled with reddish-brown. Often treble-brooded.
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