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That Nest in Birdhouses70birds
That Nest in BirdhousesSong Sparrow
Emberizidae Melospiza
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Passerellidae
formerly: Emberizidae
Genus: Melospiza
La. passer sparrow, small bird
La. forma form, kind, species
La. -idae appearance, resemblance
Swiss-German emmeritz bunting or yellow hammer
Gr. melos a song;
Gr. spiza a finch
La. melodia melody
Six inches long. Brown and white streaks back across the crown, brown and black speckles in streaks over its breast and sides of its white underside. Brown and black wing feathers with white borders. Gray tail.
Song sparrows inhabit woodlands, groves, wetland edges, open country, farms and vacant lots in towns from southern Alaska across Canada below 60 latitude to Newfoundland and throughout the U.S. to central Mexico. Most migrate short distances, some remain resident year around.
Song sparrows are spirited singers of many melodies learned from their neighbors. They sing at all times of day and night in fair or foul weather. The purpose is to announce their domain and attract a female.
Many suburb dwellers are familiar with their unique melodies as many song sparrows are City Birds and they are wide spread. F. Schuyler Mathews described the Song Sparrow as “The flower of his family, a musician of exceptional ability.”
They pump their tails in flight and characteristically disappear into bushes. When alarmed they always fly downward.
They forage in shrubs, trees and on the ground in areas thick with foliage including backyards for beetles, spiders, grasshoppers, caterpillars and various other available insects and larvae; various grains, occasionally wild fruits and berries and sometimes small snails in shallow waters.
Attract song sparrows. Plant bushes that produce cover and blackberries, blueberries, mulberries, poke berries and bayberries. Also plant black cherry trees, Virginia creeper, and wild grapes.
They like bird baths.
Song sparrows build well concealed nests of grass, rootlets, bark shreds and leaves lined with fine grass and hair in trees, bushes, trunk cavities, wood heaps, in vines against sides of houses, usually near or on the ground, sometimes up to six or eight feet, sometimes in open fields.
Females lay four to six, more or less, white speckled eggs which hatch after about two weeks incubation and young leave the nest in about another week and a half. They raise two or even three broods in a season.
Gilbert H. Trafton, the author of “Bird Friends”, 1916, recommended platforms open on all four sides for Thrashers, Catbirds and Song Birds as did A USGS research center web site and an older version of an Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation brochure from which they were later removed for lack of documentation.
If foliage are few, you could try concealing the open platform low behind a bush close to a wall or fence, or amidst a vine covered wall, but then they should prefer the bushes and vines.
Planting the berry bushes, fruit trees and vines is probably the more effective song sparrow attractant.
Song Sparrow
Emberizidae Melospiza
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Passerellidae
formerly: Emberizidae
Genus: Melospiza
La. passer sparrow, small bird
La. forma form, kind, species
La. -idae appearance, resemblance
Swiss-German emmeritz bunting or yellow hammer
Gr. melos a song;
Gr. spiza a finch
La. melodia melody
Six inches long. Brown and white streaks back across the crown, brown and black speckles in streaks over its breast and sides of its white underside. Brown and black wing feathers with white borders. Gray tail.
Song sparrows inhabit woodlands, groves, wetland edges, open country, farms and vacant lots in towns from southern Alaska across Canada below 60 latitude to Newfoundland and throughout the U.S. to central Mexico. Most migrate short distances, some remain resident year around.
They are spirited singers of many melodies learned from their neighbors. They sing at all times of day and night in fair or foul weather. The purpose is to announce their domain and attract a female.
Many suburb dwellers are familiar with their unique melodies as many song sparrows are City Birds and they are wide spread. F. Schuyler Mathews described the Song Sparrow as “The flower of his family, a musician of exceptional ability.”
They pump their tails in flight and characteristically disappear into bushes. When alarmed they always fly downward.
They forage in shrubs, trees and on the ground in areas thick with foliage including backyards for beetles, spiders, grasshoppers, caterpillars and various other available insects and larvae; various grains, occasionally wild fruits and berries and sometimes small snails in shallow waters.
Attract song sparrows. Plant bushes that produce cover and blackberries, blueberries, mulberries, poke berries and bayberries. Also plant black cherry trees, Virginia creeper, and wild grapes.
They like bird baths.
Song sparrows build well concealed nests of grass, rootlets, bark shreds and leaves lined with fine grass and hair in trees, bushes, trunk cavities, wood heaps, in vines against sides of houses, usually near or on the ground, sometimes up to six or eight feet, sometimes in open fields.
Females lay four to six, more or less, white speckled eggs which hatch after about two weeks incubation and young leave the nest in about another week and a half. They raise two or even three broods in a season.
Gilbert H. Trafton, the author of “Bird Friends”, 1916, recommended platforms open on all four sides for Thrashers, Catbirds and Song Birds as did A USGS research center web site and an older version of an Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation brochure from which they were later removed for lack of documentation.
If foliage are few, you could try concealing the open platform low behind a bush close to a wall or fence, or amidst a vine covered wall, but then they should prefer the bushes and vines..
Planting the berry bushes, fruit trees and vines is probably the more effective song sparrow attractant.
Open Platform
Open Platform Plans
Song Sparrow
Birds | Birdhouses | Plans | Home
Emberizidae Melospiza
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Passerellidae
formerly: Emberizidae
Genus: Melospiza
La. passer sparrow, small bird
La. forma form, kind, species
La. -idae appearance, resemblance
Swiss-German emmeritz bunting or yellow hammer
Gr. melos a song;
Gr. spiza a finch
La. melodia melody
Six inches long. Brown and white streaks back across the crown, brown and black speckles in streaks over its breast and sides of its white underside. Brown and black wing feathers with white borders. Gray tail.
Song sparrows inhabit woodlands, groves, wetland edges, open country, farms and vacant lots in towns from southern Alaska across Canada below 60 latitude to Newfoundland and throughout the U.S. to central Mexico. Most migrate short distances, some remain resident year around.
They are spirited singers of many melodies learned from their neighbors. They sing at all times of day and night in fair or foul weather. The purpose is to announce their domain and attract a female.
Many suburb dwellers are familiar with their unique melodies as many song sparrows are City Birds and they are wide spread. F. Schuyler Mathews described the Song Sparrow as “The flower of his family, a musician of exceptional ability.”
They pump their tails in flight and characteristically disappear into bushes. When alarmed they always fly downward.
They forage in shrubs, trees and on the ground in areas thick with foliage including backyards for beetles, spiders, grasshoppers, caterpillars and various other available insects and larvae; various grains, occasionally wild fruits and berries and sometimes small snails in shallow waters.
Attract song sparrows. Plant bushes that produce cover and blackberries, blueberries, mulberries, poke berries and bayberries. Also plant black cherry trees, Virginia creeper, and wild grapes.
They like bird baths.
Song sparrows build well concealed nests of grass, rootlets, bark shreds and leaves lined with fine grass and hair in trees, bushes, trunk cavities, wood heaps, in vines against sides of houses, usually near or on the ground, sometimes up to six or eight feet, sometimes in open fields.
Females lay four to six, more or less, white speckled eggs which hatch after about two weeks incubation and young leave the nest in about another week and a half. They raise two or even three broods in a season.
Open Platform
Gilbert H. Trafton, the author of “Bird Friends”, 1916, recommended platforms open on all four sides for Thrashers, Catbirds and Song Birds as did A USGS research center web site and an older version of an Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation brochure from which they were later removed for lack of documentation.
Open Platform Plans
If foliage are few, you could try concealing the open platform low behind a bush close to a wall or fence, or amidst a vine covered wall, but then they should prefer the vines and bushes.
Planting the berry bushes, fruit trees and vines mentioned above is probably the more effective song sparrow attractant.
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