Vesper Sparrows are gorgeous small birds – a wonderful study in
shades of brown. They are found in open habitats where they
typically prefer some bare ground in the fields were they nest.
Males sing, from elevated perches, a plaintive song that
perfectly matches their open, often bleak-looking home. I think
that the Vesper sparrow’s song is the prefect complement to
these open grassy vistas, adding a hint of loneliness through
the ears in concert with what the eyes are seeing. Vesper
Sparrows are found all across the United States in one season or
another. The breeding range extends from the southern
Appalachians northward into Canada and west and north well into
Canada’s western provinces, then all the way south to nearly the
Mexican boarder in Arizona and New Mexico. Vesper Sparrow song
is composed of pure, whistled notes, trills, and buzzy elements.
It appears that all of the neighboring males in one field will
share the same introductory whistles and perhaps the first few
syllables of their song. Their so