Song Sparrow

Here is one of natures great singers, an aptly named Song Sparrow. Here is a little of what Wikipedia has to say about their song:

The songs are very crisp, clear, and precise, making them easily distinguishable by human ears. A particular song is determined not only by pitch and rhythm but also by the timbre of the trills. Although one bird will know many songs—as many as 20 different tunes with as many as 1000 improvised variations on the basic theme, unlike thrushes, the song sparrow usually repeats the same song many times before switching to a different song.

This photo was taken in April 2010 in the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary.

Song Sparrow

The last couple of times I went out to Swan Lake I was hoping to get some photos of Marsh Wrens. These perky little birds are especially active and visible in the spring but not, it seems, quite yet. Instead I've been seeing many Song Sparrows posing beautifully on the cat-tail stalks, a symphony of brown and gold. So here's a Song Sparrow (above) with a promise of Marsh Wrens to come.

Sparrows

In the same bit of woods near Esquimalt Lagoon where I photographed the woodpecker and hummingbird in yesterday's post I had a nice encounter with two kinds of sparrow. Above is one of our commoner species, usually singing his heart out, a Song Sparrow. This one looks to be in a pensive mood. Below is a Fox Sparrow.

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

Here's another of those "little brown birds" that I find so hard to identify. I believe this one is a Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia). Winter must be a hard season for these little guys and I'm happy to see that some good souls occasionally scatter a little birdseed for them.

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

Here's another resident of Rithet's Bog, the aptly named Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia). This little bird was singing like he was going to burst and he was a delight to hear. It's not just random chirping - read what Wikipedia has to say about the songs of Song Sparrows:

The song sparrow's song consists of a combination of repeated notes, quickly passing isolated notes, and trills. The songs are very crisp, clear, and precise, making them easily distinguishable by human ears. A particular song is determined not only by pitch and rhythm but also by the timbre of the trills. Although one bird will know many songs - as many as 20 different tunes with as many as 1,000 improvised variations on the basic theme. Unlike thrushes, the song sparrow usually repeats the same song many times before switching to a different song.

Song sparrows typically learn their songs from a handful of other birds that have neighboring territories. They are most likely to learn songs that are shared in common between these neighbors. Ultimately, they will choose a territory close to or replacing the birds that they have learned from. This allows the song sparrows to address their neighbors with songs shared in common with those neighbors. It has been demonstrated that song sparrows are able to distinguish neighbors from strangers on the basis of song, and also that females are able to distinguish (and prefer) their mate's songs from those of other neighboring birds, and they prefer songs of neighboring birds to those of strangers.

(Click here to hear a sample song, repeated 5 times in a minute.)

Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia)

One of the reasons I've not become an avid birder before this latest phase is laziness. There seem to be an inordinate number of small brownish birds that resemble each other too much. The implication is that sooner or later a lot of study will be necessary to differentiate them. I also suffer from the peacock syndrome where what I tend to want to look at is large, brightly colored birds with ornately patterned plumage. So all those humble little birds that are always scrabbling around for crumbs outside Starbucks have been a real stumbling block for me. Today's bird, the Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia), is a good example that I am finally taking the bull by the horns since I went out yesterday to the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary and photographed some larger, more exotic and colorful birds. You'll see them over the next few days.

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I originally identified this bird as a Sooty Fox Sparrow. Commenter Fiona Cohen says it's a Song Sparrow and after checking a few field guides and online sources I tend to agree though, as I mention in the above post, these various small brownish/grayish birds are a little too challenging for me. My thanks to Fiona.

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This is not turning into a bird blog - the focus here is still "life in Victoria" but I've rather neglected Victoria's birds in the past. Also, while the winter has been exceptionally warm, it has also been very cloudy and if I take too many cloudy, gray landscapes I have a tendency to retire to bed with a good book about the West Indies.