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Song Sparrow
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| [Note Guidelines] Photographer's Note |
Song sparrow.
The Song Sparrow, Melospiza melodia, is a medium-sized American sparrow.
Adults have brown upperparts with dark streaks on the back and are white underneath with dark streaking and a dark brown spot in the middle of the breast. They have a brown cap and a long brown rounded tail. Their face is grey with a streak through the eye. For subspecies, see below.
In the field, they are most easily confused with its congener the Lincoln's Sparrow, and the Savannah Sparrow. The former can be recognized by its shorter, greyer tail and the differently-patterned head, the brown cheeks forming a clear-cut angular patch. The Savannah Sparrow has a forked tail and yellowish flecks on the face when seen up close.
Their favorite habitat is brushy areas and marshes, including salt marshes, across most of Canada and the United States. In southern locations, they are permanent residents. Northern birds migrate to the southern United States or Mexico, where there is also a local population resident all year round. The Song Sparrow is a very rare vagrant to western Europe, with a few recorded in Great Britain and Norway.
These birds forage on the ground, in shrubs or in very shallow water. They mainly eat insects and seeds. Birds in salt marshes may also eat small crustaceans. They nest either in a sheltered location on the ground or in trees or shrubs.
[Courtesy : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Song_sparrow] |
earthtraveler, accassidy has marked this note useful
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- pvs
![Gold Star Critiquer/Gold Star Workshop Editor/Gold Note Writer [C: 1127 W: 254 N: 3161]](https://i1.treknature.com/misc/g-g-g.gif)
(14464) - [2008-01-02 10:24]
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Hi Ashok,
A colorfull and detailed picture of this sparrow,one I never saw beforeso thanks for the introduction,
Paul
Hi Ashok,
This is a lovely bird and a very good POV with very good focus. I felt, however, that it might be able to make the sparrow stand out a little more from the BG, which is not very interesting and a little distracting in places. I also thought it would be better if the bird occupied a larger part of the image. So I've made a WS for you to compare; I hope it is useful. Thanks.
Alan
Hi Ashok,
I checked my Sparrows of the United States and Canada guide and I believe this is a western specie Song Sparrow. Henslow's has some similarities but quite different and California is way out of it's normal range. As far as your image...
Great POV/pose of this sparrow to see its colorations and facial features. Nicely composed amongst the branches. Good focus detail and excellent use of DOF to isolate the bird from the BG. A slight increase of isolated sharpening of the bird may benifit IMO.
Well done, TFS
Richard
PS: I did a workshop to show an alternate process choice from yours and Alan's.
![Silver Star Critiquer/Silver Note Writer [C: 15 W: 9 N: 38]](https://i1.treknature.com/misc/s-n-s.gif){kind=small}
