Quantcast

Vesper Sparrow

Pooecetes gramineusOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Vesper Sparrow Breeding Male Portrait
  Copyright 2002-2007 Whatbird.com
Click here for licensing information Splitbar

General

Vesper Sparrow: Medium-sized, stocky sparrow with black-streaked gray-brown upperparts, white underparts, and streaked breast and sides. White face has brown cheek patch and white eye-ring. Wings are gray-brown with two pale bars and rufous shoulder patches. Tail is notched and dark with white edges. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Vesper Sparrow: Breeds from British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia south to central California, Texas, Tennessee, and western North Carolina. Spends winters north to central California, Oklahoma, New Jersey, and Long Island. Found in cultivated fields, grasslands, and fallow fields with adjacent farmed areas.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"here-here where-where", "hisp"

Interesting Facts

 The Vesper Sparrow responds quickly to changes in habitat; it is often the first species to occupy reclaimed mine sites and abandon old farm fields as they return to forest.

 It was first described by German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1789. It is the only member of its genus.

 Long known as the "Bay-winged Bunting," the bird was given the pleasing if somewhat inappropriate name Vesper Sparrow by the naturalist John Burroughs, who thought the song sounded more melodious in the evening.

 A group of Vesper Sparrows are collectively known as a "congregation" and a "liturgy" of sparrows.



Author

Gary Owen Dick

Splitbar
Range Map for Vesper Sparrow
.
Bird database and its related content, illustrations and media is Copyright © 2002 - 2007  Whatbird.com
All rights reserved. No part of this web site may be reproduced without written permission from Mitch Waite Group.
 Privacy Policy.
Percevia® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.
Family Buntings, Finches, Sparrows (Emberizidae)_blue
Species Pooecetes gramineus
Length5.5 - 6.75 Inches
Wingspan10.625 Inches

Vesper Sparrow

Vesper Sparrow: Medium sparrow, black-streaked gray-brown upperparts, white underparts, and streaked breast and sides. White face has brown cheek patch and white eye-ring. Wings are gray-brown with two pale bars and rufous shoulder patches. Tail is notched and dark with white edges.

● Song: "here-here where-where", "hisp"

● Foraging & Feeding: Vesper Sparrow: Feeds on insects during the summer, along with spiders and other small invertebrates. Eats mostly seeds in the winter; forages on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Vesper Sparrow: Two to six creamy white or pale green eggs with brown markings are laid in a cup of grass, weed stalks, and rootlets, built in a scraped-out ground depression, and lined with fine grass and animal hair. Incubation ranges from 11 to 13 days and is carried out by both parents.

● Similar species: Vesper Sparrow: Savannah Sparrow has shorter tail, yellow behind eye, pale central crown stripe, and lacks rust-brown shoulder and eye-ring.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.
Vesper Sparrow Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Vesper Sparrow: Breeds from British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia south to central California, Texas, Tennessee, and western North Carolina. Spends winters north to central California, Oklahoma, New Jersey, and Long Island. Found in cultivated fields, grasslands, and fallow fields with adjacent farmed areas.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
PopulationUncommon to fairly common
MigrationMigratory
Weight1 Ounces