Swamp Sparrow
(Melospiza georgiana)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
|
||||||
| IUCN Red List | LC - Least Concern |
||||||
| NatureServe | N5B, N5N - Secure Breeding and Nonbreeding SNRB - Unranked Breeding |
||||||
| Minnesota | not listed |
||||||
Description |
||
The wings and crown are reddish-brown. The face and breast are gray. There is no dark breast spot. The throat is white. There is a thin black jawline and the throat is outlined with a thin black border. |
||
Size |
||
5″ to 6″ in length 7½″ wingspan |
||
Voice |
||
Similar Species |
||
Habitat |
||
Breeding: Marshes, swamps, bogs, meadows, wet brushy fields, lake shores, stream borders Migration: As above, but also forest edges, thickets, and fields |
||
Biology |
||
Migration |
||
Late March to late November |
||
Nesting |
||
|
||
Food |
||
|
||
Distribution |
||||
Occurrence |
||||
Common migrant and breeder |
||||
Maps |
||||
The Minnesota Ornithologists’ Union All Seasons Species Occurrence Map |
||||
Taxonomy |
|||
| Class | Aves (birds) | ||
Order |
Passeriformes (perching birds) | ||
Family |
Passerellidae (New World sparrows) | ||
Genus |
Melospiza (song sparrows) | ||
New World sparrows were traditionally combined with buntings into the family Emberizidae. Recent phylogenetic analysis (Barker et al. 2013) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis (Klicka et al. 2014) found that the Old World buntings should be separated as a sister to New World sparrows. New World sparrows have been separated into a new family, Passerellidae. |
|||
Subordinate Taxa |
|||
Coastal Plain Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana nigrescens) Eastern Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana georgiana) Western Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana ericrypta) |
|||
Synonyms |
|||
Fringilla georgiana Zonotrichia georgiana |
|||
Visitor Photos |
|||||
Share your photo of this bird. |
|||||
| This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach one or more photos and, if you like, a caption. |
|||||
|
|||||
MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
|||||
|
|||||
| Slideshows | ||
| Swamp Sparrow JMC Nature Photos |
||
 |
||
| Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) Bill Keim |
||
 |
||
| Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana) Sed Navarro |
||
 |
||
| Swamp Sparrows Bonnie Ott |
||
 |
||
| Swamp Sparrow Marcello Gomes |
||
 |
||
| Visitor Videos | |||
Share your video of this bird. |
|||
This button not working for you? |
|||
| Other Videos | |||
| Swamp Sparrow WIld Bird Video Productions |
|||
About
Uploaded on May 3, 2011 Swamp sparrow singing in Maine. By Garth McElroy License at http://www.paya.com/videos/135197 |
|||
| Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana Rob Curtis |
|||
About
Published on Jul 18, 2014 Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana bathing, foraging |
|||
| Swamp Sparrow Portrait 2 Larry Bond |
|||
About
Published on Jul 14, 2013 The Swamp Sparrow is fairly common in Canada east of Rockies and the northeastern United States. It breeds in tall vegetation (cattails, bushes, tussocks) in marshes, wet meadows, bogs, streams. It has a rufous crown, a gray face a white throat. It shows a gray breast and white belly. The rufous wings have no wing bars. It pumps its tail in flight. The song is a trill similar to Chipping Sparrow's. The calls include a "zee" and a metallic "chip". |
|||
| Swamp Sparrow Calling Michigan's Wildlife |
|||
About
Published on May 18, 2013 |
|||
| Swamp Sparrow (Emberizidae: Melospiza georgiana) Window-killed Bird Carl Barrentine |
|||
About
Published on May 4, 2012 Migrant species must successfully navigate a myriad of human-made hazards to get from the wintering grounds to the breeding grounds, and back again. This specimen, a window-fatality, wasn't among the fortunate. ;-( Photographed at the Wellness Center, UND campus, Grand Forks, North Dakota (04 May 2012). |
|||
| Visitor Sightings | ||||
Report a sighting of this bird. |
||||
|
This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Be sure to include a location. |
||||
| MinnesotaSeasons.com Sightings | ||||
Last Updated: