Their crowns are brown with narrow gray stripes and buff or grayish ear coverts and they have broad grayish stripes over their eyes. Song sparrows have whitish breasts streaked with dark brown or black, streaking also appears on the sides and flanks. Click here to hear their Song. Click here to hear their Call. They hide their nests on the ground under tufts of grass, brush, brush pile, or in low bushes or trees.
Nests are usually only two to three feet off the ground.
These birds form cups of grasses, weed stems, leaves, and bark fibers lined with fine grasses and hair. The nest is usually five to nine inches in diameter and four and a half inches high. They typically lay three to five eggs, oval in shape with slight gloss. Song Sparrow photo by Jim Stasz at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center. Songs courtesy of John Sauer and Greg Gough.