Swamp Sparrow

As its name implies, the Swamp Sparrow is a bird of wetlands, including cattail marshes, bogs, and shrub swamps. It is an inobtrusive sparrow compared to many of its relatives, especially the similar Song Sparrow, and is often first detected by its song. This is best described as a slow trill with the notes distinctly separated and with more emphasis than in other slow trills like the junco. The two species rarely overlap in habitat, although they can be adjacent in the North Country when conifer forests abut wetlands.

Like most sparrows, the nest is built on or near the ground in a clump of vegetation or in a shrub. Given the nature of the habitat they are also frequently located over standing water, which likely provides a little extra protection from mammalian predators. They frequently attempt to raise two broods, with the first clutch containing 3-5 eggs and the second only 2-4. Both the incubation and nestling periods are 10-12 days. Fledglings spend most of their time on the ground after leaving the nest but can make sustained flights within a week. Because Swamp Sparrows regularly lay a second clutch, females might only continuing their first brood for a couple of weeks.

Although wetland loss and degradation have been proposed as threats to Swamp Sparrows in the southern part of its range, it appears secure in the core – and may even be slowly increasing. A far greater threat may be collisions with buildings; Swamp Sparrow are one of the species most frequently killed in this manner. Overall, however, the species remains common and is not a conservation priority, with the exception of a specialized subspecies that inhabits tidal brackish marshes in the mid-Atlantic states.