Swamp Sparrow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Swamp Sparrow | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||||
| Conservation status | ||||||||||||||
| Scientific classification | ||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||
| Binomial name | ||||||||||||||
| Melospiza georgiana (Latham, 1790) |
The Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana, is a medium-sized sparrow.
Adults have streaked rusty and black upperparts with a grey breast, light belly and a white throat. They have a rust-coloured cap and wings. Their face is grey with a dark line through the eye. They have a short bill and fairly long legs.
Their breeding habitat is marshes, including salt marshes, across eastern North America and central Canada. The bulky nest is attached to marsh vegetation, often with leaves arching over the top.
On the central Atlantic coast, in the southern parts of their summer range, they are permanent residents. Other birds migrate to the southern United States.
These birds forage on the ground, in the mud near the water's edge, in shallow water or in marsh vegetation. They mainly eat insects and seeds.
The song of this bird is a slow monotone trill, slower than that of the Chipping Sparrow.
This bird's numbers have declined due to habitat loss in some parts of its range.
[edit] References
- BirdLife International (2004). Melospiza georgiana. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
[edit] External links
- Swamp Sparrow Species Account - Cornell Lab of Ornithology
- Swamp Sparrow - Melospiza georgiana - USGS Patuxent Bird Identification InfoCenter
- Swamp Sparrow Information and Photos - South Dakota Birds and Birding
