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.