Lincoln's Sparrow

Melospiza lincolnii

Lincoln's sparrow is a small sparrow native to North America. It is a less common passerine bird that often stays hidden under thick ground cover, but can be distinguished by its sweet, wrenlike song. Lincoln's sparrow is one of three species in the genus Melospiza which also includes the song sparrow and the swamp sparrow. It lives in well-covered brushy habitats, often near water. This bird is poorly documented because of its secretive nature and breeding habits solely in boreal regions. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 11,058 times across 53 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 17°C (typically 8 to 24°C, from 30 areas). That range is wide, so temperature alone does not explain when it turns up.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in North America ranged from 52°N in May to 61°N in May, about 1,000 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.