This bird is heard more often than seen. When seen, he’s usually just one of several flying brown blurs that are impossible to focus on without equipment. But, when occasionally seen clearly in the underbrush, he’s surprisingly cute in a brown-feathered way.
Yes, he’s a Song Sparrow. Here, he’s apparently trying to attract a mate late in the courtship season. As with many other birds, female Song Sparrows are attracted most to the males that add novel improvisations to the specie’s usual calls. This lonely soloist inserted some complicated cadenzas that sounded pretty good to us, but no female Sparrow showed up to applaud. There was no sense in taking a bow.
(Brooklin, Maine)