Lincoln's Sparrow

The Lincoln's Sparrow is a medium-sized sparrow with a dainty appearance. It has a rounded belly and head, but the back of its head often looks pointed or crested when it raises its crown feathers. Its tail is relatively short and its conical bill is a bit thinner compared to most other sparrows.

The Lincoln's Sparrow is streaky brown, buffy, and gray overall with rusty edges to its wings and tail. Its chest and sides are rich buff with fine black streaking that fades into a white belly. Its face is marked by a buffy mustache stripe that is bordered by thin brown lines. A buffy eyering, a thick gray eyebrow, and a dark eyeline mark the area around the eye. Its crown is striped brown and black with a gray central crown stripe.

Fun Facts

Sometimes, singing a beautiful song might not be enough to win over a female. In a laboratory study, female Lincoln's Sparrows were more attracted to males that sang during colder mornings more than those singing during warmer mornings. This may be because males singing in the cold showed off more than just their song; singing in the cold requires more energy and could mean that males singing in the cold would make better mates.

The oldest recorded Lincoln’s Sparrow was a male, and at least 7 years, 11 months old when he was recaptured and released during banding operations in Colorado in 2002. He was banded in the same state in 1995.

Lincoln's Sparrows can be found in Southern California during the winter. They can be found at bird feeder's - normally foraging on the ground. 

Some of the above information was from All About Birds