This morning I decided to feature another common and underappreciated species, the Vesper Sparrow. Friend and regular reader “Elephant’s Child” often refers to small, less colorful species as LBJs – “little brown jobs”. She appreciates the LBJs as much as their more colorful cousins and I give lip service to the fact that I do too but there’s no question that they get less attention on my blog than they deserve. This post is an attempt to partially remedy that situation.
The Vesper Sparrow, a rather large, brown-streaked sparrow with rufous wing coverts and white outer tail-feathers, is common seasonally throughout much of the U.S., Mexico and southern Canada. Sexes are alike and there is little seasonal plumage change – in short the bird is rather non-distinctive and gets relatively little attention until…
1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in
it begins to sing (which it isn’t doing here, image taken two days ago on Antelope Island).
Early naturalist John Burroughs described the sweet song of the species as unusually splendid in the late evening and as a result the name “vesper” (evening) stuck. These sparrows do sing throughout much of the day but they continue to do so into the twilight after most other species have quieted for the night.
You can listen to their rich and melodious song here.
Ron
I knew I was interested in birds when I started differentiating between sparrows. Including the song is much appreciated. I will keep my eyes and ears open.
I saw one of these birds just yesterday and had no idea what it was. I open your post today and there he is!! Thank you for this great photo and for letting us know a bit about this species. So far I have just seen the one but I am sure there must be more. Thanks to you I now know what I am looking at and can recognize his song.
Interesting coincidence, Debbie. I hope you find more of them soon!
A subtle charmer – with a glorious voice. Thanks Ron – on all counts. Yay for lbjs and, as Patty says, long may they be common.
Thank YOU on all counts, Elephant’s Child.
The lighting and background in this photo help to bring out the beauty of this bird. I have always seen the beauty in moths that aren’t colorful but have beautiful patterns on their wings, so I guess liking the LBJs like the vesper sparrow is no surprise. I really like this photo.
I agree about the lighting and background, Susan. Thanks.
like Ellie Baby, I, too really love the LBJ’s…Many of my favorite flowers are “weeds” and many of my favorite birds are LBJ’S… Or other “common” or more subtlety colored birds, like Chickdees, titmice, sparrows, magpies, crows, ravens, Canada geese, juncos, etc. They all have their own kind of beauty that Ellie Baby and others are smart enough to appreciate…may they stay “common”!!!!
“may they stay “common”!!!!”
Hear, hear, Patty!
Hi Ron, I don’t remember if i ever seen any. As I am looking for its identification marks, I am feeling confused by its similarity with Song Sparrow. Is it okay if I ask you how to differentiate between those two? I am new to birding, just started in 2013, will highly appreciate your help.
And very beautiful photo. I love all your captures.
Rima, it can get quite confusing telling the difference between Vesper, Song and Savannah Sparrows – their plumage is similar, their ranges overlap and they often share the same habitat. The cues I try to use are the more distinct white eye ring, more obvious wing-bars and larger size of the Vesper. But to be perfectly honest I’m not very good at sparrow ID so I often confirm with my friend Mia because she’s better at it then I am.
Like you said it is a very common species. We have three different kinds of sparrows here(Pardal-montês;Pardal-francês;Pardal-comum).
The last one lives mostly in the cities and is so used to humans that sometimes become a nuisance. Like when you are trying to have a snack in the open air.
I like the shot.Very peaceful.
Thanks for the song.It was a surprise to me. “Pardal-comum” doesn’t sing only twitter.
Jorge, It’s always interesting to get the comparisons to your birds in Portugal (and their names). I’m glad you enjoyed hearing the song.
Thank you Ron. Beautiful Portrait and a song to match !
Thank you, John.
I really like the perch, BG and overall color scheme of the photo. All components work together so well.
Thanks very much, Dave.
Wow, what a coincidence! Just yesterday I stopped several times as I was running the dogs to look & listen to the many Vesper & Savannah sparrows flitting through the soft green of the fields, perching on the old wooden fence posts & singing their little hearts out along the Denton Cutoff Rd just outside of town. I was thinking about how most people never even notice them & how great that is for the ones of us that do!
Deb, I’m aware of the tendency of Savannahs and Vespers to be found together and since I see many Savannahs on my Montana trips I’ll be looking (and listening) more carefully for the Vespers in the future. I enjoyed hearing about the coincidence for you of todays post.
Hi Ron, the Vesper Sparrow nests in high (4000′) meadows here in southern Oregon, and is considered by local birders to be one of the indicators that spring has arrived. There is always a mild competition to
post the first observation each year. “Our” local race is the “Oregon” Vesper Sparrow and there is some concern as to how well that subspecies is doing. So, we (Klanath Bird Observatory) have just begun a study on their population dynamics. In the mean time, I have been enjoying their song these past few weeks.
Another plus – they share habitat with our local nesting Sandhill Cranes. So, one gets to watch the cranes while listening to the sparrows. Pretty nice. Today we are celebrating International Migratory Bird Day and the crane & sparrow experience is on my to-do list! Thanks!
Cheers,
Dick
Wow, what a great and disparate combination, Dick – Vesper Sparrows and Sandhill Cranes! I hope you do get to enjoy them both today. I’ve been reading this morning about some of the recent concerns for Vesper Sparrows so I’m happy to hear of your study.
Lovely energy to this little fellow… If time allows, I’ll look up his song! Thanks for giving your skills to the LBJ’s. 🙂
Thank you, Alison.
Ron, I have been a birder since I was 12 and can almost remember every life bird! That is different then remembering each image I take. I am like you, I have to rely on my date stamp. However, if we didn’t have a date stamp and it was a fantastic shot of a Falcon, I’ll bet you’d remember. But, with life birds that is a very special time, not to say I can remember everyone, but almost every one.
Dick, I think my brain functions differently (and perhaps less efficiently) than yours. I remember my favorite images and where they were taken quite well but I usually don’t have a clue about when they were taken, at least not very precisely. Another thing I remember well is the imperfections of those images (as some have pointed out, I tend to focus on those imperfections more than I should…). I think it stems from all the time spent processing the images.
Excellent image Ron! Brings to mind my first Vesper Sparrow, my life bird seen on a large open plain in upstate NY 53 years ago. And, I can honestly say that seeing and hearing a Vesper today is as much a thrill as it was back then. Many thanks for sharing!
Wow, Dick – you have an impressive memory (or take excellent field notes). Sometimes I can’t remember what birds I saw yesterday! Without my time and date-stamped photos I’d be at a loss. Thank you.