Ben here with the Wednesday edition of #BenInNature presented by our friends at Carter Bank & ...

March 10, 2021

Ben here with the Wednesday edition of #BenInNature presented by our friends at Carter Bank & Trust!

The song sparrow (Melospiza melodia) is one of the most abundant and adaptable birds in North America, and depending on the time of year, it can be found across the entirety of the continental U.S. and a large portion of Canada.

Song sparrows get their common name from their wide range of songs; they have a repertoire rivalling Bob Dylan! A single song sparrow can know as many as 20 different songs and have as many as 1,000 variations on those songs. They usually repeat the same song multiple times before switching to a different one, and their songs are particularly crisp and precise.

Interestingly, song sparrows tend to learn their songs from birds in neighboring territories. They usually move into those same territories, which allows them to address their neighbors with the song they learned from their neighbors! They can also distinguish between the songs of neighboring birds and strangers, and female song sparrows prefer mates who sing songs that they recognize.

Song sparrows also have more subspecies than virtually any other bird in North America; 25 different subspecies are currently recognized, with the bulk residing in California.

ABOUT #BenInNature
Social distancing can be difficult, but it presents a great opportunity to become reacquainted with nature. In this series of posts, Administrator of Science Ben Williams ventures outdoors to record a snapshot of the unique sights that can be found in the natural world. New updates are posted Monday - Friday, with previous posts highlighted on the weekends. This series of posts is made possible thanks to the support of VMNH Corporate Partner Carter Bank & Trust (www.cbtcares.com)

NATURE PHOTO IDENTIFICATIONS
If you discover something in nature that you would like help identifying, be sure to message us right here on Facebook with a picture (please include location and date of picture) and we'll have our experts help you identify it!