Scientific Name:   Melospiza melodia

Length:   4.7-6.7 in (12-17 cm)

Weight:   0.4-1.9 oz (12-53 g)

Wingspan:   7.1-9.4 in (18-24 cm)

Nest:   The nest is an open cup, made of grasses, stems, leaves, and bark chips, usually lined with fine grasses, rootlets, and hair. Song sparrows nest either in a sheltered location on the ground or in trees or shrubs.

Eggs:   4, often 3-5, rarely 2-6. Pale greenish white, heavily spotted with reddish brown. Incubation is apparently by female only, about 12-14 days.

Feeding Behavior:   They feed by walking or hopping on the ground, in shrubs, or in very shallow water. They eat mainly insects and seeds, and birds in salt marshes may also eat small crustaceans.

Young:   Both parents feed the nestlings and the young normally leave the nest about 10-12 days after hatching, and remain with their parents about another 3 weeks.

Range:   Song sparrows occur across most of Canada and the United States. Populations of the southern half of their range are non-migratory, but birds from the northern area migrate during winter to the southern United States or Mexico.

Brief Description:   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.