Lincoln's Sparrow

Lincoln's Sparrow, Half Moon Bay, CA, 9 Dec 2005. Note the crown pattern, buffy malar and buff colored chest with fine streaking below.

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Reproduction
9. Conservation Status
10. Other Names

A drab, but handsome bird of boggy areas, the Lincoln's Sparrow is best identified by the fine streaks on its buffy chest.

Cool Facts

• The Lincoln's Sparrow shows less geographical variation in song than any other species in its genus, perhaps a result of high dispersal rates among juveniles.

Description

• Size: 13-15 cm (5-6 in)
• Weight: 17-19 g (0.6-0.67 ounces)

• Small songbird.
• Brown or grayish-brown overall.
• Streaking on back, breast, and flanks.
• Streaking on chest in band of creamy buff.
• No spot in center of chest.

Sex Differences

Sexes look alike.

Immature

Immature similar to adult.

Similar Species

• Song Sparrow has spot in center of breast, lighter gray eyebrows, a white (not buff) upper breast, is more coarsely streaked, and pumps its tail up and down when flying.
• Swamp Sparrow has blurry streaks on gray chest and reddish in its wings. Juvenile Lincoln's Sparrow closely resembles juvenile Swamp Sparrow, but crown of Lincoln's is usually streaked, while that of Swamp Sparrow is solid brown or black.

Sound

Song rich, warbling, jumble, with high-pitched introductory notes, followed by a short, complex phrase started at a low pitch, then bursting into higher pitches. Calls a high-pitched "zeet" and a lower-pitched "chip."

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

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Summer Range

Breeds across Alaska and Canada, southward to northern United States and in mountainous West to southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico.

Winter Range

Winters from southern United States to Central America. Also along Pacific Coast northward to southern British Columbia.

Habitat

Breeds in bogs, wet meadows, and riparian thickets, mostly in northern and montane areas. Winters in brushy areas, thickets, hedgerows, understory of open woodlands, forest edges, clearings, and scrubby areas.

Food

Seeds and invertebrates.

Reproduction

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Helpless.

Conservation Status

Most populations increasing slightly.

Other Names

Bruant de Lincoln (French)
Sabanero de Lincoln, Gorriòn de Lincoln (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Ammon, E. M. 1995. Lincoln?s Sparrow (Melospiza lincolnii). In The Birds of North America, No. 191 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, and The American Ornithologists? Union, Washington, D.C.