Song Sparrow

Melospiza melodia

If you hear a sweet melody along the edges of open, shrubby, or wet areas, there’s a good chance a Song Sparrow is the serenading you.

Habitat 

Look for Song Sparrows in summer coast to coast in Canada, just below the territories. For winter they’ll head to the southern United States. In some parts of southern Canada and the United States you will even find residents that don’t migrate and stay year-round. In all these places they like open areas: grasslands, deserts, pine and mixed forests, farm fields, marshes, lake edges, and even neighbourhoods.

Food 

Insects make up most of their summer food, but they eat seeds and fruits year-round too.

Behaviour  

A nest with 1 to 6 eggs is placed on the ground or up in trees. The nest is a sturdy cup of grasses, weeds, and bark. Adults will roam low through vegetation searching for food, but males do come to high perches to sing. There can be great variation in colour in birds across North America. Some are very pale, while others are very dark, with more streaking.

Conservation  

Song Sparrows are common across their range. They are a species of low conservation concern. However, local populations have faced declines, such as a saltmarsh race in the San Francisco Bay area, while in some other areas they have even disappeared, such as some islands off the south coast of California.

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