Episode 18: Field Sparrow – Voice of the Wild

This is Illinois Extension’s Voice of the Wild. A new wild voice in just a moment, so find someplace quiet, take a deep breath, and enjoy.

When oppressive heat drives all the other birds to silence, this little sparrow perseveres. It sings even on the hottest days of summer, often from a hedgerow overlooking an abandoned, shrubby, pasture. The song starts slow but picks up speed as it goes, devolving from a sweet whistle to a crowded trill. The bird’s rusty cap and long tail are good visual fallbacks if you’re too far away to see its characteristic pink-bill.

This is the Field Sparrow, Spizella pusilla from the family of new world sparrows Passerellidae. Some remember the field sparrow’s song as a ping-pong ball dropped on a table. Think of it bouncing ever closer and faster before coming to a rest. Here’s the field sparrow again.

Thank you to the Macaulay library at the Cornell lab for our bird sounds. And thank you for tuning in to learn a new bird call with Illinois Extension.