Songbirding

The Lincoln’s Sparrow is a very secretive songbird that looks almost like it’s got a tailored plumage: complete with the stripes, spots, and the streaks of typical brownish North American sparrow. 

Most notably its chest is buffy coloured and has visible fine streaks.

The song of the Lincoln’s Sparrow is a song of jumbled notes, and to me is reminiscent of an abbreivated House Wren song.

This species is found almost everywhere in Canada except for southern Ontario, the south central prairies and the arctic. It can also be found in limited parts of the western United States.

For this species in focus episode I’ll be sharing my recordings of the Lincoln’s Sparrow from Sibbald Meadows Pond, Jumpingpound Demonstration Forest, and the Fullerton Loop Hiking Trail.

Credits

Songbirding: Kananaskis Country is a Songbirding Studios production.

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.

The Songbirding cover art (Townsend's Warbler) is by Lauren Helton: https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/projects/5344062

Creative Commons music is from Bluedot Sessions.

Learn how to support the show at https://songbirding.com/support

Creators and Guests

Host
Rob Porter
Rob is a software engineer and naturalist in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is the winner of the 2025 Betty Blashill Environmental Prize, and started the Songbirding podcast in 2019.

What is Songbirding?

Let's go birding by ear! Guided by award-winning naturalist and field recordist Rob Porter, the Songbirding podcast is an audio nature documentary that takes you on guided hikes while you learn the songs of dozens of North American songbird species. Entirely recorded in the field, and equally ideal for learning or relaxing to. You won't hear any other podcast quite like this.

Songbirding has been four-time nominated as Best Science Podcast for the Canadian Podcast Awards.

You can start with any episode in any season. Season 1: Bruce Peninsula, Ontario; 2-3: Southern Ontario; 4: Mid-western & Southern Ontario; 5: Johnston Harbour, Ontario; 6: Allegheny National Forest, Pennsylvania; 7: Kananaskis Country, Alberta.

For those with high-frequency hearing loss, please search for "Songbirding Under 5kHz".

Credits

Recorded, engineered, narrated and created by Rob Porter.
Cover art by Lauren Helton - https://tinylongwing.carbonmade.com/

About the Host

Rob is a software engineer and naturalist in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He is the winner of the 2025 Betty Blashill Environmental Prize, and started the Songbirding podcast in 2019. He is also currently the Bird Studies Group Director of the Hamilton Naturalists' Club.

Support

Support the show at https://songbirding.com/support