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New World Sparrows

Song Sparrow

Singammer

Melospiza melodia

New World Sparrows11 photosFirst seen: 5 July 2026
Song Sparrow

The Song Sparrow is a medium-sized brown sparrow with strong breast streaking and a central dark spot. It occupies wetlands, scrub, gardens and woodland edges across much of North America. The bird feeds on seeds and insects, usually close to the ground and dense cover. Males use several different song types, and neighbouring birds often share local versions. Pacific Northwest populations are generally darker than birds from drier regions.

ID tip: The dark central breast spot atop heavy streaking, plus a long rounded tail and broad grey eyebrow, separates it from the finer-streaked, yellow-lored Savannah Sparrow.
First seen: 5 July 2026 · Union Bay Natural Area · 11 photos in the collection.

Places in my records

Locations where this species is supported by a dated first record, an unambiguous single-place outing or a reviewed assignment.

Family
New World Sparrows (Passerellidae)
Length
12–17 cm
Wingspan
18–24 cm
Regional status
Year-round resident (Pacific Northwest, USA)
Conservation
Least Concern LCIUCN Red List · retrieved 27 August 2026
Habitat
Marsh edges, streamside thickets, gardens, brushy hedges
Diet
Insects, seeds, berries
Built from verified occurrence records, not drawn by hand. Core range = the countries holding 99% of all records; the rest are scattered or vagrant records. Record counts track where people watch birds as much as where the birds are, so the map shows presence, not abundance. Data: GBIF (CC BY 4.0). Basemap: Natural Earth.

Selected photographs

Song SparrowSong SparrowSong SparrowSong SparrowSong SparrowSong SparrowSong SparrowSong Sparrow
Complete photo archiveAll 11 published photographs of this species, including the selected main gallery.Open all 11 photos in the archive →
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