About the Bell's Sparrow
Bell's sparrow is a species of bird in the family Passerellidae, the New World sparrows. It is found in Mexico and the United States.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
Bell's sparrow is about 12 to 15 cm (4.7 to 5.9 in) long and weighs about 13 to 17 g (0.46 to 0.60 oz). Males are larger than females but the sexes have the same plumage. Adults in fresh plumage have a mostly dark gray head and nape. They have dusky blackish lores, a white patch above them, a white eye-ring, and sometimes a faint whitish supercilium and dark line behind the eye. They have a white streak below the ear coverts with a black stripe below it. Their back, rump, and uppertail coverts are brownish with very indistinct fuscous streaks on the back. Voice: Only male Bell's sparrows sing, and do so throughout the breeding season though song frequency declines as the season progresses. The song is described as jumbled, warbled, and buzzy, and each individual has several variations of its song. Males sing from atop a shrub or just below its top. The species' contact call is a "short musical tink" that often is repeated as a twitter.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in May · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
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