Savannah Sparrow: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Little Birds of the Americas · day 1 of 7

Five facts

1. It is named after the city of Savannah, Georgia, where the naturalist Alexander Wilson spotted it in 1811.
2. Young birds migrate at night. They set their built-in magnetic compass using the pattern of sunlight at sunset.
3. One subspecies, the Ipswich sparrow, breeds almost only on Sable Island off Nova Scotia. These birds often raise three broods a year.
4. Its shade changes with place: birds from Alaska and inland areas are the palest, while those on the southwest coast are the darkest.
5. It feeds on the ground or in low bushes. It eats mostly seeds, adding insects in the breeding season.

The quiz

1. Where does the Savannah sparrow's name come from?

• The African savannah
• A city in Georgia, USA (correct)
• A Spanish word for grass
• The naturalist who found it

It is named after Savannah, Georgia, where Wilson saw it.

2. What do young Savannah sparrows use to set their inner compass?

• The smell of the sea
• The sound of rivers
• The light at sunset (correct)
• The shape of mountains

They calibrate their magnetic compass on the light at sunset.

3. Where does the Ipswich sparrow subspecies breed?

• Almost only on Sable Island (correct)
• Only in Ipswich, England
• In the Andes
• On Hawaii

It breeds almost exclusively on Sable Island, off Nova Scotia.

4. Which Savannah sparrows are the darkest?

• Those from Alaska
• Those from inland areas
• Those from the Great Lakes
• Those from the southwest coast (correct)

Southwestern coastal birds are darkest; Alaskan and inland ones are palest.

5. What does the Savannah sparrow mainly eat?

• Nectar
• Seeds (correct)
• Fish
• Tree sap

It eats mostly seeds, plus insects when nesting.

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