Name (Latin): Melospiza melodia
Size: Song Sparrows are medium-sized and fairly bulky sparrows. Smaller than a Blue Jay. Similar in size to the Veery and Chipping Sparrow.
Description: Described as "Streaky Brown." White with definitive characteristic brown streaks down the body. light red and grey markings upon the head as well, but these are more variable.
Song/Sounds: Listen Here.
Habitat: Song Sparrows are found in an enormous variety of open habitats, including marshes, grasslands, scrub, pine forests, aspen parklands, prairie shelterbelts, Pacific rain forest, chaparral, agricultural fields, overgrown pastures, freshwater marsh and lake edges, forest edges, and suburbs. Around here you will often find Song Sparrows in deciduous or mixed woodlands. They next in low shrubs.
Seasons in Keene: Song Sparrows live in this area year round, stretching their territory north into Canada for summer breeding season and extedning it south for wintering in the southern US.
Nest and Eggs: Typically located in scrub brush. The female builds the nest of long grasses, bark, and rough peices on the outside. The inside is lined with softer material. Often animal fur.
Similar Species: Chipping sparrow.
Distribution: Widespread accross North America.
Population Trends: Populaiton considered stable at this time.
Threats: Habitat loss, predation.
Fun Facts: Song Sparrows seem to have a clear idea of what makes a good nest. Field researchers working for many years on the same parcels of land have noticed that some choice spots – the base of a rose bush, or a particular hollow under a hummock of grass, for example – get used over and over again, even when entirely new birds take over the territory.
Video: See it here