BIRD OF THE MONTH

April: Lincoln’s Sparrow

by Janine Schutt

Lincoln’s Sparrow

An unassuming, somewhat secretive songbird is the Lincoln’s Sparrow. Found in Kitsap during the non-breeding season, it is present from late summer to mid-spring and is absent for most of the summer. Here are some fascinating facts about the Lincoln’s Sparrow:

Smaller and similar in appearance to the Song Sparrow, but has a grayer head, a whiter belly, and more streaking on its buffy breast.
Named for Thomas Lincoln, a traveling companion of John James Audubon, who secured a specimen for study.
Most often found in scrubby areas near streams but also uses forest edges and fields.
Prefers to stay hidden under thickets and doesn’t stray far from cover. Flies in a direct path through open spaces.
Eats seeds, insects, and caterpillars from the ground or low in shrubs.
Breeds across most of Canada and Alaska and winters along the West Coast, southern U.S. and Mexico.
In Washington, it breeds above 3,000 feet in wet mountain meadows with willows.
Females prefer males who sing on cold mornings, perhaps because it shows that they have a lot of energy.
Male sings from a stationary position, making it easy to find him visually on breeding grounds.
The bubbly song is similar to the Northern House Wren.
In migration, individuals join mixed sparrow flocks, rather than joining with their own species. It is usually more solitary in winter.
Nests on the ground under thick vegetation. Female weaves a nest cup of dried grass.
When the nesting female is disturbed, she quietly slips off the nest and runs like a mouse with her head down through the underbrush, before taking flight.
Clutch size is 3-5 eggs. The incubation period is 10-13 days, and the nestling period is 10-11 days.
Both parents feed the young while in the nest and for the first 2-3 weeks after fledging.
Juveniles can fly within a week of leaving the nest.