Field Sparrow

Spizella pusilla 
Sparrow family (Emberizidae)

Small sparrow, 5” long. Buffy to light gray breast, unstreaked; bright pink bill; rufous crown; white eye ring; grayish face with rufous eyeline and rufous ear patch; brown tail and back.

Habitat:
Open meadows, abandoned fields

Nesting:
Cup-like nest of grasses placed on or near the ground in dense clumps of grass. Eggs are pale blue with dark markings. Clutch size – 4 eggs.

Voice:

Song is a series of downslurred whistles that gradually increase in speed, like a bouncing ball.

Name Origin:

Spizella, Greek and Latin, spiza for “finch”; pusilla, Latin, pusillus, for “smallest”.

In the Nature Park:
Year-round resident. Common in open meadows of the Nature Park. Distinctive “bouncing ball” song of male is heard often during spring and summer.

Photos: