Song Sparrow singing
Melospiza melodia
Song Sparrow · Prospect Park · 23 May 2026
A Song Sparrow singing from a low perch in Prospect Park in May, a bird of thicket and wet edge across the continent and one of the park's commonest breeders.
The heavy central breast spot, where the streaking below the throat converges into one dark blotch, is the reliable field mark on an otherwise variably-streaked sparrow. Song Sparrows are also known for genuine song dialects: birds in different regions, and even different individuals within the same population, sing distinguishably different versions of the species' song, learned from the neighbours.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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