Songs
The Song Sparrow sings a loud, clanking song of 2–6 phrases that typically starts with abrupt, well-spaced notes and finishes with a buzz or trill. In between, the singer may add other trills with different tempo and quality. The song usually lasts 2-4 seconds. Patterns of songs vary over the species’ enormous range, so the Song Sparrows you hear when traveling may not sound quite like those from your hometown.
Calls
- Song, call
Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller
- Chip note
Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller
Oregon October 1989
- Alarm call
Recorded by Arthur A. Allen
New York May 1952
Courtesy of Macaulay Library
© Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Song Sparrows have a sharp chip note to indicate alarm or anxiety; both sexes make it when excited or if predators approach a nest. Females make a harsh chatter at their mates during nest-building, or at a female intruding on the territory. Young or subordinate birds make a softer, tsip note.
Find This Bird
In spring and summer, Song Sparrows are one of the most conspicuous of all sparrows. Males sing often, perching around eye level on exposed branches. Also watch for Song Sparrows moving along wetland edges, ducking into dense, low vegetation after short bursts of their distinctive, tail-pumping flight.