Nelson's Sparrow Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A medium-sized sparrow with a short conical bill, plump body, and a rather short tail in which the individual feathers often appear spiky at the tips.

  Relative Size

  Larger than a Common Yellowthroat, smaller than a Song Sparrow.

  sparrow-sized or smaller

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 4.3-5.1 in (11-13 cm)
    • Weight: 0.6-0.7 oz (17-21 g)
    • Wingspan: 6.5-7.9 in (16.5-20 cm)

  © Luke Seitz / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  A richly colored sparrow with a saffron-yellow eyebrow and whisker marks framing a grayish cheek. The interior-breeding form of Nelson’s Sparrow, this yellow color continues strongly onto the throat, breast, and sides, with streaking on the breast and flanks. The coastal-breeding “Atlantic” form is more muted, with pale gray in the upper back, pale buff below, and very limited, faint streaking on the breast.

• Behavior

  Nelson’s Sparrows walk or run through within wetland vegetation and across small openings, often feeding from the ground. They also seek seeds and insects higher in the marsh vegetation. They sometimes perch on top of shrubs.
• Habitat

  In the interior of the continent, birds nest in freshwater wetlands in the taiga (boreal forest) and prairie, especially marshes with reeds, sedges, rushes, and cordgrass but also during wet years in farm fields. The coastal form (“Atlantic”) nest mostly in tidal marshes, both saltwater and brackish, as well as in farm fields during wet years on occasion.