Swamp Sparrow

Call and song

• Recording 1 · call

  Recording: Jonathon Jongsma · Wikimedia · CC-BY-SA 4.0 (licence)

• Recording 2

  Recording: Jeff Ellerbusch; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

• Recording 3

  Recording: Bob McGuire; Cornell Lab of Ornithology | Macaulay Library

About the Swamp Sparrow

A medium-sized sparrow with attractive rufous and gray pattern. Slightly smaller than Song Sparrow, with a blurrier look overall (like a watercolor vs. an oil painting). Look for bright reddish-brown wings and relatively plain underparts. Adults are plain grayish below with buffy sides; males have a rufous crown. Immatures often show buffy tones on the face and streaking on the underparts, but never as crisp and extensive as Lincoln’s Sparrow. Breeds in cattail marshes and other wetlands; found in a variety of shrubby habitats during migration and winter, but often in wet areas. Typically not in flocks with other sparrows, and rarely visits feeders. Compare especially with Song and Lincoln’s Sparrows.

Species account: eBird.org, fetched 2025-12-26 · How these pages are made

Where it has been recorded

Recorded in 7 of the 253 countries we have eBird lists for. Each opens that country's checklist.

• Bahamas
• Bermuda
• Canada
• Mexico
• Russia
• Saint Pierre and Miquelon
• United States