Song Sparrow
Melospiza melodia
New World Sparrows (Passerellidae) · Passeriformes · New World Sparrows
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How to identify Song Sparrow
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Often mixed up with
In quizzes, players most often confuse Song Sparrow with these birds—either this species was picked by mistake, or the other way around.
| Species | Mix-ups |
|---|---|
| White-throated Sparrow Zonotrichia albicollis | 37 |
| Rustic Bunting Emberiza rustica | 27 |
| Dark-eyed Junco Junco hyemalis | 20 |
| Savannah Sparrow Passerculus sandwichensis | 18 |
| Baltimore Oriole Icterus galbula | 10 |
Family
New World sparrows are a group of mainly New World passerine birds, forming the family Passerellidae. They are seed-eating birds with conical bills, brown or gray in color, and many species have distinctive head patterns. Although they share the name sparrow, New World sparrows are more closely related to Old World buntings than they are to the Old World sparrows (family Passeridae).
Order
A passerine () is any bird of the order Passeriformes (; from Latin passer 'sparrow' and formis '-shaped'), which includes more than half of all bird species. Sometimes known as perching birds, passerines generally have an anisodactyl arrangement of their toes (three pointing forward and one back), which facilitates perching. With more than 140 families and some 6,500 identified species, Passeriformes is the largest order of birds and one of the most diverse clades of terrestrial vertebrates, representing 60% of …