Chipping Sparrow Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Song
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California, June 11, 1994Recorded by Randolph Little | Macaulay Library
Song
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Ontario, July 17, 1958Recorded by William W. H. Gunn | Macaulay Library
Calls
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California, June 13, 1993Recorded by Randolph Little | Macaulay Library
Calls
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Colorado, May 29, 2007Recorded by Andrew Spencer
Flight calls
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Pennsylvania, October 17, 2007Recorded by Andrew Farnsworth

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

Male Chipping Sparrows sing a long, dry trill of evenly spaced, almost mechanical-sounding chips. It’s one of the most common sounds of open woods in spring – but be careful, because Dark-eyed Juncos sound very similar (though a bit more musical) and often live in the same habitats. Songs are about 3.6 seconds long on average, consisting of around 55 nearly identical chip notes in a row.

Calls

Year round, both sexes use a single chip note to stay in contact with others. Upon sighting a hawk, Chipping Sparrows give a long zeeeee call as an alarm. During courtship, females make a soft, rapid see-see-see-see to attract the attention of her mate.