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
• Cogswell, H. 2000. Song Sparrow, in Baylands ecosystem species and community profiles: Life histories and environmental requirements of key plants, fish and wildlife (Prepared by the San Francisco Bay Area Wetlands Ecosystem Goals Project, P. R. Olofson, ed.), pp. 374-385. San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, Oakland, CA.
• Collins, J. N., and Resh, V. H. 1985. Utilization of natural and man-made habitat by the salt marsh Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia samuelis (Baird). Calif. Fish Game 71:40-52.
• 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.
• Grenier, J. L. 2004. Ecology, behavior, and trophic adaptations of the Salt Marsh Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia samuelis: The importance of the tidal influence gradient. Ph.D. dissertation, Univ. Calif., Berkeley.
• Gutenspergen, G. R., and Nordby, J. C. 2006. The impact of invasive plants on tidal-marsh vertebrate species: Common Reed (Phragmites australis) and Smooth Cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora) as case studies. Studies Avian Biol. 32:229-239.
• Johnston, R. F. 1956. Population structure in salt marsh Song Sparrows. Part I. Environment and annual cycle. Condor 58:24-44.
• Marshall, J. T., Jr. 1948. Ecologic races of Song Sparrows in the San Francisco Bay region. Part I. Habitat and abundance. Condor 50:193-215.
• 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
• Sauer, J. R., Hines, J. E., and Fallon, J. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, results and analysis 1966-2004, version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildl. Res. Ctr., Laurel, MD. Available at www.mbr-pwrc. usgs.gov/bbs/bbs.html
• Scollon, D. B. 1993. Spatial analysis of the tidal marsh habitat of the Suisun Song Sparrow. M.A. thesis, San Francisco State Univ., San Francisco.
• 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