Swamp Sparrow
Melospiza georgiana
A medium-sized sparrow with attractive rufous and gray pattern. Slightly smaller than Song Sparrow, with a blurrier look overall (like a watercolor vs. an oil painting). Look for bright reddish-brown wings and relatively plain underparts. Adults are plain grayish below with buffy sides; males have a rufous crown. Immatures often show buffy tones on the face and streaking on the underparts, but never as crisp and extensive as Lincoln’s Sparrow. Breeds in cattail marshes and other wetlands; found in a variety of shrubby habitats during migration and winter, but often in wet areas. Typically not in flocks with other sparrows, and rarely visits feeders. Compare especially with Song and Lincoln’s Sparrows.
Identification
Measurements:<p>Adults have streaked rusty, buff and black upperparts with an unstreaked gray breast, light belly and a white throat. The wings are strikingly rusty. Most males and a few females have rust-colored caps. Their face is gray with a dark line through the eye. They have a short bill and fairly long legs. Immature birds and winter adults usually have two brown crown stripes and much of the gray is replaced with buff.
Taxonomy
- Scientific name
- Melospiza georgiana
- Authority
- (Latham, 1790)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Passerellidae
- Genus
- Melospiza
Range and habitat
Swamp sparrows breed across the northern United States and boreal Canada. The southern edge of their breeding range coincides largely with the Line of Maximum Glaciation. A small number of morphologically distinct birds inhabit tidal marshes from northern Virginia to the Hudson River Estuary. This subspecies (M. g. nigrescens) winters in coastal marshes of the Carolinas and differs from the two inland swamp sparrow subspecies in having more black in a grayer overall plumage, larger bill, different songs, and a smaller average clutch size.<p>Their breeding habitat is marshes, including brackish marshes, across eastern North America and central Canada. The bulky nest is attached to marsh vegetation, often just above the ground or surface of the water with leaves or grass arching over the top. The female builds a new nest each year and lays an average of four eggs per clutch. Females give a series of chips as they leave the nest, probably to ward off attacks by their mate or neighboring males.<p>While swamp sparrows can be found year-round in small numbers on the southern edge of their breeding range, individuals are probably all migratory, primarily migrating to the southeastern United States.
- Breeding range
- NA : nc, ne
- Non-breeding range
- to ne Mexico
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
- Population trend
- rising
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Leaden Flycatcher
Myiagra rubecula
A long-tailed, slender songbird with fine bill. Males rich blue-gray above, white below, with a blue-gray bib with convex lower edge (curves upward at the edges). Crown paler than throat, lending male a bearded appearance in optimal light. Male Satin Flycatcher has uniformly dark head, blackish (not grayish) tail feathers, and concave bib edge. Female paler blue-gray above, with pale orange throat and breast. Inhabits varied woodlands, perches high in the canopy, often shakes the tail rapidly. Song a repeated two-note whistle; call a loud buzzing “zerp.”
Tree Swallow
Tachycineta bicolor
Common and widespread throughout most of North America, breeding as far north as Alaska and wintering to Panama. A medium-sized swallow, with gleaming white underparts. Adult males are bright iridescent blue-green above; females and immatures are duller brownish with limited or no iridescence. Always note compact shape, fairly broad wings, and slightly notched tail. Occurs in a variety of open habitats including grassy fields, lakes, and marshes. Often in flocks, sometimes mixed with other species of swallows. Breeds in cavities, including human-made nest boxes. Listen for cheery gurgling calls. Compare especially with Violet-green Swallow; note Tree Swallow does not show extensive white wrapping around the cheek or the sides of the rump.
Himalayan Shortwing
Brachypteryx cruralis
Tiny, stumpy bird of dense undergrowth. Male is dark slate-blue with broad white eyebrows that give him the appearance of a furious little old man. Female is warm pale brown all over. In areas of overlap with Chinese and Lesser Shortwings, look out for the all-dark lower belly, which is white in those species. Inhabits hill and montane forest, where it forages in dense undergrowth, frequently in proximity to streams. Song is composed of high thin whistles with short bursts of clicking chattering mixed in.
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