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 Song Sparrow Melospiza melodia
is one of the most common — and most variable — birds in North America.
There are 52 named subspecies, although only ~24 are currently
considered acceptable (Arcese et al. 2002). These 24 races run from M.m. maxima
of the western Aleutian Islands — which is roughly the size of a
California Towhee (photo, right, show a Song Sparrow from Attu I. in
the w. Aleutians compared to a Cal. Towhee) — to birds half that size
that reside only in the salt marshes around San Francisco Bay. |
 Subspecific
taxonomy of Song Sparrows is still in flux, and this account is
summarized from Recessed et al. (2002) as updated by accounts in
Shuford & Gardali (2008). I have attempted to map the currently
accepted ranges of races in northern California, where Song Sparrow
nests everywhere except the higher Sierra Nevada. The literature is
confusing and sometimes contradictory; this is especially true in
northeastern California, where I may have it all wrong. I used Grinnell
& Miller (1944) ranges for former subspecies that are now lumped in
the present list, and this may have caused confusion. However, to
generalize, there are 10-11 subspecies in California, and 8-9 in
northern California:
- cleonensis in the extreme northwest (Del Norte, coastal Humboldt, nw. Mendocino) — dark green on map
- montana in the Cascades (?) and east of the Sierra; montana includes fisherella which was used by Grinnell & Miller (1944) — dark brown on map
- merrilli in extreme northeast California (per Arcese et al. 2002) — light green on map
- gouldii along coast and Coast Ranges from Mendocino Co. south to southern Monterey County (except the S.F. Bay salt marshes); gouldii includes santaecrucis of Grinnell & Miller (1944) — golden-orange on map
- local and rare San Francisco Bay salt marsh races: samuelis in north Bay [red on map], maxillaris in the northeast delta [yellow on map], and pusillula
in south Bay [dark purple on map]. These ranges follow the detailed
maps in Shuford & Gardali (2008) and each is a California taxa of
special concern.
- "mailliardi" in the
Central Valley from the Sutter Buttes south of Modesto, called the
"Modesto population" in Shuford & Gardali (2008), who have
restricted the range from what is shown in Grinnell & Miller
(1944). According to Patten (2001) this subspecies is not diagnosable,
so he merges it with heermanni. But because Patten (2001) did
not include biochemical analysis, it is possible that this Song Sparrow
is distinctive genetically; thus it is considered a California bird of
special concern — purple-pink on map
- heermanni,
which is a widespread subspecies from the southern Central Valley and
across the interior of southern Monterey County and down the southern
California coast all the way to northwest Baja; it includes cooperi of Grinnell & Miller (1944) [cooperi had been the considered the race in the coastal part of the range] — light blue on map
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I have photos of five of these subspecies that may be interesting to compare side by side: |
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This is our local breeding race gouldii (above; Monterey harbor 9 Jan 2007). This used to be santaecrucis, which is apparently a "hybrid zone between gouldii and heermanni" (Arcese et al. 2002), and since heermanni includes what used to be cooperi, it explains why local specimens are randomly assigned to either gouldii or "cooperi" (see Roberson 2002) — Monterey is where these subspecies merge into each other. For convenience we'll call them gouldii. |
This is cleonensis
of northwest California (above; Klamath R. mouth, Del Norte Co., Apr
1978). It is said to be "dark brown with chestnut streaks" while gouldii
is "deep reddish-brown with black streaks" (Arcese et al. 2002), but
that applies to the upperparts. These two side-by-side photos show only
the front of the sparrow, and they look very similar to me. The photo
below is our local gouldii (23 Apr 2004 Moonglow Dairy; carrying food to nest) which does show the "reddish-brown" upperparts with "black streaks." |
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This is "mailliardi"
(above; w. San Joaquin Co., 11 Apr 1998), the "Modesto population" Song
Sparrow that may not represent a diagnosable subspecies but is still
considered a "species of special concern" for the moment. Patten (2001)
said it could not be separated from heermanni in the Central Valley, and heermanni grades into gouldii in Monterey County. So it looks a lot like our local birds to me, except not so reddish. |
This is heermanni
from the San Joaquin Valley (above, 12 Apr 1998 Mendota NWR, Fresno
Co.). Not a very good photo but not a very distinctive bird. It is very
similar to the "Modesto" Song Sparrow and not unlike our local
sparrows. They do, indeed, seem to just grade into each other in
plumage. |
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This is samuelis
(above; Grizzly Is., Solano Co., 17 June 2004), one of the very small
races restricted to the salt marshes around San Francisco Bay. This is
up in the north Bay/delta area. Arcese et al. (2002) state its back is
"olive-dusky with black" streaks and it is very small-billed. I do see
a bird that is quite dingy-gray above, especially compared to our
brighter-backed birds in MTY, which are also big-billed. |
This is pusillula
(above; Palo Alto Baylands 24 Nov 2007, at high tide in pickleweed). It
is another California Species of Special Concern because of the loss of
tidal wetlands and the fragmented nature of its range. Like samuelis
(left) it is small and small-billed; it is said to be the "only
subspecies with yellowish underparts" (Arcese et al. 2002). I don't see
it in this shot (above) but in another photo that same day (below) one
can see a yellowish wash to the flanks. |
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 I'm not really sure where that all gets us. Our local bird (above; gouldii
from Monterey harbor 9 Jan 2007) has rich buffy-washed flanks. It is,
however, a bigger-billed sparrow and more richly colored in
rufous-brown on the scaps and tail. The S.F. Bay salt marsh birds, like
pusillula, are small-billed (right) and very gray above,
including the tail. These salt marsh Song Sparrows are indeed
distinctive. But beyond that, the all set of races shown here — from
the extreme northwest through the Central Valley to the central and
southern coast — are not much different from each other. I suspect most
of us could not separate them in the field.
Roberson (2002) cites MTY specimens of a pale interior montana from mid-November, and a rusty northwestern morphna
from mid-March. Certainly we get migrants that look different from
anything shown on this page. The Great Basin birds (montana) are pale
and gray compared to our local birds, while birds from nw. United
States (morphna) are darker and richer rusty [morphna
breeds s. British Columbia to nw. Oregon]. I don't have photos to
illustrate these migrants to Monterey County (assuming that the
specimens are correctly labeled). A good working knowledge of our local
bird (such as below; 21 Mar 2008 at Big Sur R. mouth) could well help
an observer notice something different in migration.
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Photos: All photos © Don Roberson, all rights reserved.
Literature cited:
Arcese, P., M.K. Sogge, A.B. Marr, and M.A. Patten. 2002. Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) in The Birds of North America, No. 704 (A. Poole & F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.
Grinnell, J., and W.A. Miller. 1944. Distribution of the Birds of California. Pac. Coast Avifauna 27. Cooper Ornith. Soc.
Patten
M.A. 2001. The roles of habitat and signaling in speciation: evidence
from a contact zone of two Song Sparrow subspecies. Ph.D. dissertation,
Univ. Calif., Riverside.
Roberson, D. 2002. Monterey Birds, 2d ed. Monterey Pen. Audubon Soc., Carmel, CA.
Shuford,
D., and T. Gardali, eds. 2008. California Bird Species of Special
Concern. Studies of Western Birds 1. Calif. Field Ornithologists,
Camarillo, CA, and Calif. Dept. Fish & Game, Sacramento.
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