The Song Sparrow may be the most common sparrow in the Eastern US, but is found across the country and Canada. He is on my mind because I have just begun to hear his spring song last week, which will continue throughout the summer (unlike most songbirds who sing territorially in the spring, and then keep quiet).
He is an easy sparrow to identify, with the streaked breast with the big blotch in the center. And, perched on the top of a shrub branch, head tilted to the sky, pouring his heart out, he is hard to miss.
Interestingly, his song has many regional accents, but the basic format remains the same.
More about the exhuberant Song Sparrow, with sample of his familiar song, at CLO.
Photo courtesy of P. LaTourette.