Overview

Field Sparrow: Medium sparrow, rufous back with dark streaks, unstreaked, buff breast. Gray-brown rump. Gray head, rufous cap, and white eye-ring. Pink bill, legs and feet. Forages on ground or low shrubbery. Short flights, alternates rapid wing beats with brief periods of wings pulled to the sides.

Range and Habitat

Field Sparrow: Breeds from northern North Dakota, central Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, and central New England south to Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, central Texas, and western Colorado. Spends winters south to the Gulf of Mexico and northeastern Mexico; prefers abandoned fields and pastures overgrown with weeds, scattered bushes, and small saplings.

Breeding and Nesting

Field Sparrow: Two to six brown marked, white to pale blue or green eggs are laid in a woven cup-shaped nest made of grass, lined with rootlets or fine grass, and set on or near the ground. Incubation ranges from 10 to 17 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Field Sparrow: Eats seeds and insects; forages on the ground.

Readily Eats

Safflower, Apple Slices, Suet, Millet, Peanut Kernels, Fruit

Vocalization

Field Sparrow: Call is a series of soft, plaintive notes, all on the same pitch, accelerating to a trill at the end.

Similar Species

Field Sparrow: Clay-colored Sparrow has a brown crown with central stripe, buff cheek patch, gray nape, and white underparts with a buff wash on breast.