It’s a pleasure to see so many people enjoying so many birds this time of year. Of course, there are some birds people are not enjoying so much. I’m talking about you, sparrows.
Perhaps I’m being unfair to sparrows. Despite the fact they all look annoyingly alike, sparrows do have their own charm. You have to admire their talent for hiding. They’re much stealthier than those show-off warblers.
While colorful birds dazzle from the treetops, sparrows seldom leave the ground. Most are skilled at disappearing into cover.
Sparrow songs defy categorization. Some species sing beautiful melodies, while others emit mere buzzes and trills. Some sing nothing more than a hiccup. It’s no wonder sparrows perplex birders.
Fortunately, sparrows sort themselves out. Each species is very particular about its preferred habitat. Except in migration, each is found only in very specific places.
There are 17 birds with “sparrow” in the name that regularly occur in Maine. Three only wander into Maine during migration. One, the American tree sparrow, is only here in winter.
Of our 13 nesting sparrows, several are easy. The song sparrow is ubiquitous. It’s as comfortable in established neighborhoods as it is along remote logging roads. As the name implies, it sings a lot and it’s hard to miss. Anyone can find and recognize this one.
Chipping sparrows are likewise comfortable around people. They like open areas with short grass, and even tree-lined parking lots. They can be found anywhere from suburban backyards to field edges in the North Maine Woods.
White-throated sparrows are abundant in Maine, typically residing along woodland edges. Most birders will recognize them by their white throats, striped crowns and familiar “Old Sam Peabody” songs.
Swamp sparrows are abundant in wetlands. Anywhere you see cattails, you’ll likely find swamp sparrows. Their slow, sweet trills make them easy to locate.
After these four, it gets harder. Several species are grassland specialists. Savannah sparrows are the most common. They can be seen popping out of the grass to sing from the shrubs in hayfields, even areas within Bangor city limits. Just about every large grassy field has them.
Field sparrows live up to their name, though they prefer their field edges to be a little brushier than the other grassland denizens. They are more common in southern Maine, but a small number nest in the Bangor area.
I can’t explain why one has been singing for weeks on the University of Maine campus, next to the black bear statue.
Clay-colored and grasshopper sparrows are uncommon nesters in Maine. Kennebunk Plains in York County and the fields around Brunswick Executive Airport in Cumberland County are the two best-known locations. These species occur more commonly south and west of Maine. Unless you are specifically looking for them, you won’t find them. So why worry? No need to fret about recognizing them.
Vesper sparrows nest prolifically in midwestern prairie states. They find Maine’s blueberry fields to be agreeably similar. That’s where you find them, and virtually nowhere else.
Lincoln’s sparrows are primarily bog birds, but also nest in disturbed areas containing wet, brushy habitat, including clearcuts on logging roads and damp areas under power lines. You will find them virtually nowhere else. Close to home, they’re in the Orono Bog, often adjacent to the boardwalk.
Fox sparrows breed in the boreal areas of the North Maine Woods. They’ve expanded their range over the last 40 years, and now occupy a wide swath of forest from the Quebec border to the eastern edge of Baxter State Park. They are sometimes under-the-feeder birds during spring and fall migration.
Maine’s last two sparrows are the most difficult to identify. They nest in saltmarsh meadows, where they are more often heard than seen.
Nelson’s and saltmarsh sparrows are so similar, they were considered the same species until 1998. Although geneticists theorize the species diverged from each other about 11,000 years ago, they are prone to hybridizing wherever their ranges overlap.
Historically, saltmarsh sparrows nested no farther north than Thomaston. Recently, confirmed breeders have popped up in Frankfort and Milbridge. Nelson’s sparrows typically nest north of Massachusetts, all the way into Quebec’s Gaspe Peninsula. The overlap zone is therefore relatively small. Regardless, you won’t find them unless you’re looking for them.
Yes, we have confusing sparrows in Maine. Identifying these little brown birds can be challenging. But only a few species are commonly seen, so don’t worry about identifying the hard ones — yet.
