How to Identify a Seaside Sparrow

The seaside sparrow is an American water bird that resides and migrates mainly along marshes. As such, it has become a barometer of marshland health. This little bird's corner of nature is sensitive to anything that changes water levels, a modification that could eliminate or reduce the mud pools from where it gets its food. The easiest way to identify a seaside sparrow is to listen to its song.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Look at photos of the seaside sparrow and you'll find a small bird, about 5 ½ to 6 inches long, with a chunky build. It has a large, cone-shaped bill and a flat head. Rather colorful, both sexes of the seaside sparrow have a yellow spot in front of its eye, a white throat and dark gray-streaked feathers on its back and breasts.
2. Find seaside sparrows only along the coastal and salt marsh regions of eastern and southern United States. These are one of the birds most affected by indiscriminate commercial development and the accompanying loss of wetlands.
3. Know the seaside sparrow's favorite foods are insects, crabs, snails and other small marine invertebrates and seeds they can forage from the ground.
4. Research the habits of seaside sparrows which nest along the Atlantic Coast from New Hampshire to Florida, and along the Gulf Coast to south Texas in areas with enough elevation to protect their nests from tidal waters. Nesting season begins around mid-March for birds in the south, while inhabitants of the more northern territories won't nest until mid-July.
5. Note that the typical seaside sparrow couple feed their 2-5 chicks together. In the event of a nest failure, these sparrows will persevere and re-nest or produce a second clutch. Young seaside sparrows leave the nest at about 9 days, even before they can fly, but they remain nearby.

Tips & Warnings

• Seaside sparrows offer a short, muffled song that sounds like "ttp, zhe, eeeeee" and ends in a buzzing sound similar to that of a red-winged blackbird.