Bird name:

Song Sparrow

Melospiza melodia

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Code 4

SOSP

Code 6

MELMEL

ITIS

179492

Breeding Location:

Forest edge, Open landscapes, Grassland with scattered trees, Bushes, shrubs, and thickets, Marshes, freshwater, Swamps, Streams, upland

Breeding Type:

Monogamous

Breeding Population:

Widespread, Abundant

Egg Color:

Pale green with red brown markings

Number of Eggs:

2 - 6

Incubation Days:

12 - 14

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Lined with fine material., Grass, forbs, leaves, and bark strips.

Migration:

Northern birds migrate

RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS

General

Song Sparrow: Medium-sized sparrow with heavily streaked gray-brown upperparts. Dull white underparts have dark central breast spot and thick streaks. Head has a brown crown with paler median stripe, pale gray eyebrow, white chin, and dark brown moustache stripe. Wings are rust-brown. Tail is long, rounded and usually tinged rust-brown. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is duller and may lack breast spot.

Range and Habitat

Song Sparrow: Breeds from the Aleutians and mainland Alaska east to Newfoundland and south to California, North Dakota, and Carolinas. Spends winters from southern Canada throughout the U.S. to the Gulf Coast and Mexico. Preferred habitats include forest edges, clearings, thickets, and marshes with open grassy feeding areas; also found in undergrowth in gardens and city parks.

Breeding and Nesting

Song Sparrow: Two to six red brown marked, pale green eggs are laid in a cup nest of grass, forbs, leaves, and bark strips, often lined with hair, and usually built on the ground near a grassy tussock or reeds; sometimes builds nest in a bush or tree, 2 to 4 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by the female; raises up to three broods per season.

Foraging and Feeding

Song Sparrow: Diet consists of seeds, grass, berries, and occasionally insects; also eats crustaceans and mollusks on the coast; forages on the ground.

Readily Eats

Sunflower Seed, Commercial Mixed Bird Seed

Vocalization

Song Sparrow: Song consists of three short notes followed by a varied trill, sometimes interpreted as "Madge-Madge-Madge, put-on-your-tea-kettle-ettle-ettle."

Similar Species

Song Sparrow: Lincoln's Sparrow is smaller with smaller bill, lighter streaks on breast and flanks, buff on breast and face, shorter tail, and lacks breast spot. Savannah Sparrow is smaller and paler, and has heavier bill, shorter tail, pale yellow eyebrows, and lacks breast spot.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Upperparts

Back, rump, hindneck, wings, and crown.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

Chin

The area of the face just below the bill.

Crown

The crown is the top part of the birds head.

Eyebrow

Also called the supercilicum or superciliary it is the arch of feathers over each eye.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America