SONG SPARROW 1491 



MELOSPIZA MELODIA (Wilson) 



Song Sparrow 



PLATE 75 



Contributed by Val Nolan Jr. 



On any list of North American birds selected for their general 

 familiarity, the song sparrow would have few peers. Although 

 relatively small and not very conspicuously marked, this species 

 combines a readiness to dwell near humans and a persistent and 

 attractive song with a breeding range extending from Mexico to the 

 outer Aleutians and from the islands off the Atlantic coast to those 

 off the coast of the Pacific. Further, the territories of the males 

 are small and the suitable habitats extensive, with the result that 

 the song sparrow is abundant in most of its range. Add to the fore- 

 going the fact that these sparrows are readily trapped, and it is not 

 surprising that some populations have been studied in meticulous 

 detail. 



Not only is the song sparrow one of our best-known birds; it is 

 also our most variable, with 31 subspecies recognized as occurring 

 within the territory covered by the A.O.U. Check-List (1957) and 3 

 additional subspecies in Mexico (Friedmann, et al., 1957). Robert 

 Ridgway (1901) writes, "No other bird of the Nearctic Region has 

 proven so sensitive to influences of physical environment," and 

 Alden H. Miller (1956) cites the song sparrow as "one of the best 

 examples of substantial racial diversification" among terrestrial verte- 

 brates on this continent. Most of the subspecies occur west of the 

 Rocky Moimtains and in Alaska. Thus 9 races are found exclusively 

 in California, to which may be added in California 8 other races that 

 are not confined to that state. As a result of this plasticity, the song 

 sparrow figures prominently in literature dealing with the origin of 

 species and with ecologic gradients. The frontispiece in Joseph 

 Grinnell and A. H. Miller's (1944) work on California birds will repay 

 examination for its portrayal of variations in eight of the races of that 

 state. Ira N. Gabrielson and F. C. Lincoln (1951) put the extent of 

 the intra-specific variation in the following way: "it is probably true 

 that if all the resident Song Sparrows between Kodiak Island and the 

 Imperial Valley in California were suddenly destroj^ed, there are few 

 observers who would believe that there was any close relationship 

 between the large dusky Aleutian birds and the small pale form about 

 the Salton Sea." 



It will assist the reader if he is aware of the following decisions as 

 to the manner of presenting this life history of the song sparrow: 



(1) Most subspecies are treated separately in order to permit the 

 use of the detailed information that is available for some populations 



