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confident, purposeful bird when he lands on the feeding tray to peck at small seed. He is not easily intimidated and stubbornly holds his place among squabbling Goldfinches, now “green” — finches in their olive winter plumage.
There are three qualities for which this little brown bird is distinguished. As stated earlier, the Song Sparrow is widely distributed and occurs throughout this continent. They nest in the northern tier of states and as far north as the Arctic Circle. In winter this sparrow occurs as far south as central Mexico. At some time of the year, the Song Sparrow can be seen from the Atlantic to the Pacific. There are 30 known subspecies or races.
I saw a Song Sparrow in the garden of an inn in Mexico City many years ago. He was very dark and much smaller than our Virginia bird. The Song Sparrow of the desert is large and pale. In Alaska, the sparrow is much larger. This bird is a clear indication of the effect of climate and geology on evolution.
Distinction number two: For many years, women were excluded as recognized ornithologists. It was a profession, an “-ology,” open only to men. In the 1940s Margaret Morse Nice toppled that exclusion and became a world class authority on the Song Sparrow. Her work on this little bird has yet to be exceeded and “Studies in the Life History of the Song Sparrow” remains a landmark in the
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