Song Sparrows are medium-sized and fairly bulky with a rounded head. Their bill is short and stout, tail long and rounded, and wings broad. Song Sparrows are streaky and brown, with thick streaks on a white chest and flanks. On a closer look, the head is a mix of warm red-brown and slaty-gray. However, these shades as well as the amount of streaking, vary extensively across North America.

References cited in Species Profile

• Aldrich, J. W. 1984. Ecogeographical variation in size and proportions of Song Sparrows (Melospiza melodia). Ornithol. Monog. 35:1-134.
• Arcese, Peter, Mark K. Sogge, Amy B. Marr and Michael A. Patten. 2002. Song Sparrow (Melospizamelodia), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/704
• Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 2015. Song Sparrow. All About Birds. http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Song_Sparrow/id
• Davis, A. and P. Arcese. 1999. An examination of migration in Song Sparrow using banding recovery data. N. Am. Bird-bander 24:124-128.
• Nice, M. M. 1937. Studies in the life history of the Song Sparrow, Pt. I. Trans. Linn. Soc. N.Y. 4:1-247.
• Partners in Flight. 2012. Species assessment database. http://rmbo.org/pifassessment/Database.aspx
• Philip Williams & Associates, Ltd, EDAW, H. T. Harvey & Associates, and Brown & Caldwell. 2005. South Bay Salt Pond Restoration Project. Final alternatives report. Public draft. Submitted to Calif. State Coastal Conservancy, U.S. Fish & Wildl. Serv., and Calif. Dept. Fish & Game.
• Shuford, W. D., and Gardali, T., editors. 2008. California Bird Species of Special Concern: A ranked assessment of species, subspecies, and distinct populations of birds of immediate conservation concern in California.
• USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. 2012. North American Breeding Bird Survey 1966 - 2010 analysis. http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/bbs/specl10.html