Swamp Sparrow

During summer, you can hear the melodious trills of thousands of Swamp Sparrows across eastern and central North American wetlands. These birds are closely related to the Song Sparrow and often get dismissed as nothing more than a small mud-colored bird. On closer inspection, this bird possesses a bright rusty crown and wings, a greyish breast with a whitish throat, and a grey nape. It has longer legs than other members of its genus, allowing for this bird to wade and forage in shallow water.  You can hear this shy bird more than you can see it. Although these birds may only know a few songs, they remember them like the back of their claws. Further, song learning among the Swamp Sparrow is highly precise and often produced similar to that of human cultural traditions. Lachlan and colleagues found that song traditions in Swamp Sparrows can last for hundreds to thousands of years. 

About Swamp Sparrows 

The Swamp Sparrow was first discovered in the late 1790s by John Latham, “the grandfather of Australian ornithology”. This first specimen, found in the state of Georgia in the United States, hence the Latin subpart of its name came to be “Georgiana”. With an increasing population of 22 million and a wide range, the IUCN Red List categorizes swamp sparrows (Melospiza georgiana) as “least concern”. Considering their protection under the U.S. Migratory Bird Act, the species has undergone an 81.4% increase over the past 40 years in North America alone. Today, we will be discussing these birds in more detail. Mainly focussing on the following:

● Swamp Sparrow Photos, Color Pattern, Song 
● Swamp Sparrow Size, Eating Behavior, Habitat
● Swamp Sparrow Range and Migration nesting

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Swamp Sparrow Color Pattern 

As briefly described earlier, swamp sparrows mainly exhibit patterns of red, grey, black, brown, and white. An adult breeding swamp sparrow has a blackish forehead with a pale grey median stripe. The rest of their crown is brightly rust-colored with some fine black streaking. They have a broad grey super-cilium with buffier grey lores and ear-coverts. The eye-ring is a pale greyish-white with a blackish-brown moustachial stripe (reaching the base of the bill). The nape is greyish with fine dark streaks, while the mantle and scapulars are a dull reddish-brown. The rump and upper-tail coverts are olive-brown and the lesser coverts are chestnut. The greater and median coverts are blackish with chestnut feather edges. The flight feathers are black with grey and rufous edges, becoming white around the tip. The tail is rusty brown with pale buff feather edges. Finally, swamp sparrows possess a whitish throat, with a greyish-white breast and underbelly. They usually have reddish-brown irises, fleshy legs, and a dusky-grey bill with a mid-flesh lower mandible. 

Swamp Sparrows show significant sexual dimorphism in crown color, but can only be identified during the breeding season. This dimorphism primarily results from adult males possessing a completely rusty cap, while females have a less extensive rufous crown with black streaks. Further, adult males in winter have shown to have less extensive rusty caps as compared to their summer counterparts. One can conclude that dimorphism is both sexual and seasonal (i.e. seasonal sexual dimorphism), which is almost never seen in any other Sparrow species. To add to this, Swamp Sparrows in the northern and western parts of the range are usually much lighter than those in the south and east.

Non-breeding Swamp Sparrows are mostly similar to sexually mature sparrows but exhibit a less noticeable rusty crown, with buffier ear-coverts. At this stage, both males and females are indistinguishable (i.e. monomorphic). On the other hand, a juvenile has a much buffer plumage and a flesh bill, with heavy black streaking on the crown, nape, breast, flank, and mantle. 

Description and Identification 

Swamp Sparrows are almost impossible to spot. Rather than straining the eye, try to listen to their unique song and calls. During spring and summer, males sing a rich, liquid series of notes on the same pitch similar to a slow trill. This song attracts females during mating season and marks territory. Occasionally, during early spring a male will deliver a flight song composed of halting, jumbled notes along with a slow trill. If you can hear this exact sound, it is likely that the source is coming from Swamp Sparrows perched on elevated shrubs or wading in marshy wetlands. 

Swamp Sparrow Song 

Songs sung by Swamp Sparrows are preserved like cultural tradition, passed on from elders to their young. The young begin communication by mimicking adults around them, selectively remembering the most common songs heard. This learning strategy is referred to as “conformist bias”, and until recently has only ever been observed in humans. Analysis of male swamp sparrow songs revealed that only 2% of them deviated from the status quo, hence grounding the conformist bias hypothesis that has produced unchanged song traditions lasting for centuries. Lastly, this selection bias holds an evolutionary advantage during mating season, wherein females prefer mainstream songs over outliers.

Ornithologists observed that Swamp Sparrows living in different regions sing slightly varying songs. For example, Sparrows in New York tend to sing in three-note repeats, while the same in Minnesota, follow four-notes or produce a new combination of basic notes.  The most common calls produced by both sexes are a rich, sweet, resonant seet. Males utter low, buzzy call notes as a warning towards other swamp sparrows of the same sex. During mating season, females will give a series of stuttering chip notes, while a male-female pair will give quiet, sibilant contact calls when apart from each other. 

Swamp Sparrow Size 

These Sparrows are medium size, slightly larger than a Chipping Sparrow, but slightly smaller than a White-throated Sparrow. Both males and females are 12-15 centimeters in length, weigh an average of 15-23 grams, and have a medium wingspan of approximately 18-19 centimeters. 

Swamp Sparrow Behavior 

Swamp Sparrows are most commonly solitary birds (with an exception during migration and mating season). They hide in dense cover and forage on the ground close to the water’s edge. With the help of their long legs, they often perch and forage in vegetation near the ground, close to a water source, and sometimes feed while wading in water. In leaf litter areas, these birds flip leaves or scratch with their feet to look for food. When disturbed by either predators or humans they tend to run rather than take flight, and take cover within a shrub to observe the intruder from a distance. 

Males prefer an elevated perch in tall shrubs or saplings within their territory. They begin to sing well before dawn through mid-morning; some may also sing at night. Territories are mainly established during early spring, hence aggression between rival males is fairly common. Further, territorial aggression has been observed towards Song Sparrows, Marsh Wrens, and Common Yellowthroats. Swamp Sparrows are effectively adapted to their wetland
habitat, and are able to efficiently navigate through dense cover during flight, running on the ground, or even climbing through reeds. 

Swamp Sparrow Diet

Swamp Sparrows are the most insectivorous species in their genus. Their diet usually includes beetles, caterpillars, grasshoppers, crickets, ants, and other arthropods; aquatic invertebrates such as molting damselflies and dragonflies.  They also feed on seeds and fruit such as blueberries, seeds of many sedges, grasses (foxtail, panic grass), swamp dock, smartweed, and vervain. The latter plant matter makes up for around 85% of their diet during the winter.

The same percentage makes up for the former, animal matter during spring and early summer (i.e. breeding season). Swamp Sparrows feed on seeds from both the ground and when perched on vegetation. They walk into marshy regions and wade in shallow water, immersing their heads in order to capture invertebrates. Animal matter such as this is usually discovered by flipping immersed vegetation or gleaning invertebrates from shrubs. 

Swamp Sparrow Habitat  

Swamp Sparrows are most commonly and exclusively found to nest and breed in open wetlands such as cattail and sedge marshes, shrubby wetlands, and other similar habitats. In northern parts of their range, fens and bogs are used as nesting areas since they have patches of open water dotted in shrubs. Alternatively, they can nest in peat bogs with little open water. In the mid-Atlantic states, from northern Virginia to the Hudson River Estuary,  “Coastal Plain” Swamp Sparrows (i.e. nigrescens subspecies) nest in brackish marshes by tidal rivers. 

Range and Migration 

Their range stretches across eastern North America and Central Canada. On a regional basis, their summer range includes the eastern half of the Northern United States south to Missouri, Ohio, Maryland, and a large portion of Canada from Newfoundland west to the Rockies. Winter populations concentrate in the eastern United States from Texas, the Gulf Coast, and Florida north to Iowa, the southern great lakes, and Massachusetts.

While Swamp Sparrows can be found year-round in small numbers around the southern edge of their breeding range, all individuals are migratory, moving towards the southeastern United States. During migration, large numbers of Swamp Sparrows mix with Song Sparrows, Lincoln’s, and White-throated Sparrows in the East, especially in coastal regions that are prone to migrant “fallouts”. In such circumstances, these birds may be considerably far from wetland regions. 

Swamp Sparrow Lifecycle 

The average lifespan of a Swamp Sparrow is approximately 71 months in the wild. Females incubate a clutch size of 1-6 greenish-white eggs with extensive reddish-brown markings. The incubation period lasts for 12-13 days. Both parents bring food to the nestlings, and after 10-13 days, the young will leave their nest. For the first few days after fledging, the young begin to make short flight-hops in the vegetation. Within just a week, they are able to fly from shrub to shrub. Monogamous pairs usually raise one or two broods per year. Although the exact age is unknown, Swamp Sparrows reach sexual maturity/adulthood within just a couple of months. 

Nesting

Male Swamp Sparrows defend their territory and attract mates by singing day/night from a raised perch such as the tip of a cattail, or shrub in the marsh. Females arrive on breeding grounds after the males, and after selecting a suitable mate, form monogamous pairs. Females build and select nests made with a rough outer layer made of marsh vegetation, with an inner lining of fine grass, sedge, and hair. Most nests are in marsh vegetation over ground or water, within 5 feet of the ground. Dead cattail blades and other leaves are used to form an arch over the nest, so that birds are forced to enter through the side. Nests average 3 inches tall by 4.25 inches across, with the cup 2.25 inches across and 1.6 inches deep. The females incubate 1-6 greenish-white eggs with reddish brown markings twice a year. Since incubation is undertaken by the female only, the male brings food for his mate during this time and contributes in feeding his young. 

Anatomy of a Swamp Sparrow 

Swamp Sparrows are medium-sized and bulky with a short, conical bill, a compact and robust body with a moderately long tail. Their overall anatomy is quite similar to their close relative, the Song Sparrow. Their long legs allow for them to wade in shallow water and conical beaks aids in foraging shrubs and wetland for invertebrates and other plant matter. 

Final Thoughts 

Over 70% of Swamp Sparrows breed in and around the boreal forests of Northern America and Canada. This region is home to numerous other birds and hence called “North America’s Bird Nursery”. Unfortunately, they are facing ongoing threats from oil and gas exploration, logging, and mining. However, these birds are quite widespread and have increased in population over the past 40 years. Effective conservation methods of bird habitats along with government ensued protection via the U.S. Migratory Act have maintained Swamp Sparrow populations to a “least concern” status. 

In reference to their long-standing song traditions, the introduction of man-made barriers, such as cities, roads, and plantations into natural habitats can alter a historically unified population into a collection of isolated groups that barely interact. This type of fragmentation has the potential to prevent cultural continuity amongst songbird populations such as Swamp Sparrows. As humans, we hold cultural traditions as something precious and sacred,
therefore attempts to preserve the same amongst this unique bird species are critical in the long term.

Ornithology

Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes

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Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying Swamp Sparrows

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Swamp Sparrows are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

Swamp Sparrow Iron On Patches

Kids, Youth, and Adults love to collect our Bird Watching Academy & Camp iron-on patches. Our bird-watching patches help you keep track of the birds you have seen and identified. You can also display the patches on our Bird Watching Academy & Camp banners.

The Swamp Sparrow is a great iron-on patch to start your collection with. The patches are durable and can be sewn on or ironed on to just about anything.

Swamp Sparrow Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Swamp Sparrow. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders For Swamp Sparrows

There are many types of bird feeders. Here are our favorite bird feeders for your backyard. We use all of these bird feeders currently. Kids will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. Using this collection of bird feeders will provide a wide variety and many types of birds.

Best Bird Houses For Swamp Sparrows

There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.