April
21, 2009 - The song sparrow is an enthusiastic singer
and we look forward to all our little sparrows and to
the nesting and baby process. Unfortunately, this bird
is a common host of the cowbird. We ourselves seem to be
an excellent host for the cowbird this year. Yikes!
March
19, 2009 - We have what appears to be a single song sparrow. He hops
merrily around the yard, double scratching and seems quite content to
look under feeders and last year's vegetation. Sure hope he draws other
song sparrows to our back yard.
The song sparrow is the most widespread sparrow in North America.
There are differing opinions of whether our area of New York is in
the year-round or summer only range. We seem to be right on the
edge of the split. We have seen song sparrows from March
28th in the sparkly snow to September 8th in the green grass and weeds.
It seems the song sparrows have settled the argument for at least this
summer. Since they are known to return to a similar area each
year, we hope to see them in spring.
We did have a visit from a song sparrow on November 1st. At first
glance of his back, we thought it might be the American tree sparrow.
Oops!
It has been said that being very familiar with the appearance of the
song sparrow, will make indentifying any unknown sparrow easier.
Make notes of how the new bird differs from the song sparrow's traits-
size, color, crown, throat, eye-lines, cheeks, and chest streaking.
And then nothing beats having at least several reference bird books at
the ready.
Of course, sparrows songs differ from each other and within each
type. The song sparrow has an eight to ten song repertoire. Other
males in his area may have the same component notes, but songs
differ. The song sparrow is a persistent and melodious (implied in Latin
name) singer and added much to our backyard chorus this year.
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Size:
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Length: 5-7 in
Weight: .7 oz
Wingspan: 8-12.5 in
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ID:
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Male: Brownish gray streaked upperparts; more brown on wing
and tail; whitish underparts; brown streaking on sides and
breast; dark central breast spot; dark line beneath eye; grayish
eyebrow; dark malar stripe bordering white throat; brown crown
with pale central stripe; long rounded tail; bill short, sharp
and gray; pinkish gray feet anisodactylous (three toes point
forward and one toe points backward)
Female: Similar to male; slightly smaller than male
Juvenile: Similar to male; finely streaked breast without the
central spot; buffier color
overall
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Habitat:
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Shrubs, thickets, forest edges, open fields and lawns
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Diet:
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Insects, seeds, berries and fruit; forages on ground and in
vegetation by double scratching (slight hop forward with both
feet, then a sweep backward kicking aside debris exposing any
food)
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Family Behavior:
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Mating Habits: Monogamous but sometimes polygynous; male will
defend territory (half to one and a half acres) by singing from
prominent perches; 2-3 broods per year
Nests: Cup-shaped; built of grass, weeds, leaves and bark by
female; first nest placed among clumps of grass and later ones
put in low shrubs and conifers
Eggs: 3-6 greenish white with reddish brown markings; female
incubates 12-14 days
Nestlings: Born altricial (helpless, naked, eyes closed) and
stay in nest 9-16 days; male and female feed; male may feed one
brood while female builds new nest for new brood
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Social Activities:
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Solitary or in pairs; may form small loose flocks, migrate
just south enough to avoid snow accumulation; fluffs feathers to
keep warm; males are more dominant at food sources because they
are slightly larger than females
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Range:
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Southern Canada and Alaska; most of northern US; southern
half of US for some winter migration
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Vocalization:
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Introductory trills and clear note sweet, sweet, sweet or
seet, seet; repeats every couple of minutes; call is chimp with
nasal ssst; much individual variation between birds, but each
bird usually has one song sequence
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Lifespan: |
Up to 9 years |
