Song sparrow - WikiHQ

The song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) is a medium-sized New World sparrow. Among the native sparrows in North America, it is easily one of the most abundant, variable, and adaptable species.

Description

alt=Song sparrow|thumb|295x295px|Song sparrow in coastal [[Marin County, California|Marin County, California]]

thumb|Song sparrow in [[Washtenaw County, Michigan showing its distinctive spot.]]

Adult song sparrows have brown upperparts with dark streaks on the back and are white underneath with dark streaking and a dark brown spot in the middle of the breast. They have a brown cap and a long brown rounded tail. Their face is gray with a brown streak through each eye. They are highly variable in size across numerous subspecies (for subspecies details, see below). The body length ranges from and wingspan can range from .—unlike thrushes, the song sparrow usually repeats the same song many times before switching to a different song.

Song sparrows typically learn their songs from a handful of other birds that have neighboring territories. They are most likely to learn songs that are shared between these neighbors. Ultimately, they will choose a territory close to or replacing the birds that they have learned from. This allows the song sparrows to address their neighbors with songs shared with those neighbors. It has been demonstrated that song sparrows are able to distinguish neighbors from strangers on the basis of song, and also that females are able to distinguish (and prefer) their mate's songs from those of other neighboring birds, and they prefer songs of neighboring birds to those of strangers.

Predators and parasites

Common predators of the song sparrow include cats, hawks, and owls; however snakes, dogs, and the American kestrel are treated ambiguously, suggesting that they are less of a threat. The song sparrow recognizes enemies by both instinctual and learned patterns (including cultural learning), and adjusts its future behavior based on both its own experiences in encounters, and from watching other birds interact with the enemies. Comparisons of experiments on hand-raised birds to observation of birds in the wild suggest that the fear of owls and hawks is instinctual, but fear of cats is learned.

Eastern group

thumb|Eastern song sparrow in Virginia Small, brownish, long-winged forms with strong black streaks.

Melospiza melodia melodia (Wilson, 1810). The nominate subspecies. Eastern half of North American range except coastal areas south from New York State. In winter, they migrate southeastwards. Very contrasting, very light with black streaks below, and gray margins to back feathers. This population includes the forms named as M. m. juddi Bishop, 1896; M. m. acadica Thayer and Bangs, 1914; M. m. beata (non Bangs) Todd, 1930; M. m. euphonia Wetmore, 1936; M. m. callima Oberholser, 1974; and M. m. melanchra Oberholser, 1974.
Melospiza melodia atlantica Todd, 1924. Inhabits the Atlantic Coast sand dunes and salt marshes from Cape Cod southwards. Differs from nominate by a gray back. Includes M. m. rossignolii Bailey, 1936.
Melospiza melodia montana Henshaw, 1884. The subspecies west of melodia to the Rocky Mountains. Some birds from the northern part of its range migrate to north-west Mexico in winter. Similar to nominate, but larger, duller coloration and more slender bill. Includes M. m. fisherella Oberholser, 1911.

Northwestern group

Large, dark, diffuse dark streaks. A study of mtDNA allozyme variation of most forms in this group concluded that they are of comparatively recent origin and that island populations are apparently derived independently from each other.

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External links

Song sparrow ID, including sound and video, at Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Song sparrow facts at BirdHouses101.com (Archive link)
Song sparrow at Xeno-canto
Song sparrow - Melospiza melodia - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter

Description

Predators and parasites

Eastern group

Northwestern group

Further reading

External links