Song Sparrow

The Song Sparrow is one of America's most common and familiar sparrows. It is often seen singing its melodious song from an exposed perch. Measuring about 6 inches in length, it is mostly brown above and white below with brown streaks through the breast and a conspicuous brown spot in the center. The face is whitish with a brown streak running through the eye and along the cap. Song Sparrows vary in appearance in different parts of their vast range. Birds in Alaska are much darker than those in the east. Song Sparrows in the desert southwest are much paler than their eastern counterparts.

The Song Sparrow is probably the widest-ranging of our sparrows, breeding from Aleutian Islands of Alaska, throughout central and southern Canada and the northern two-thirds of the United States. In winter, they range across the entire United States and parts of northern Mexico.

The Song Sparrow is found in a variety of open and semi-open habitats and is especially common in suburban areas with dense cover.