Savannah Sparrow eating an ant in Golden, BC

Saying that a bird is a sparrow is like saying a vehicle is a car.  The general title does credit to narrowing its identification, but it still leaves much uncertainty.  In the world, there are 140 different species, of which 47 of them occur in North America.  In British Columbia, where I photographed this guy, there are about 18 different species according to Bird Watching HQ.

Savannah sparrows are found throughout North America.  You would think that a sparrow named for flat temperate grasslands wouldn't range as widely as they do, but the irony here is that the name comes from where the bird was first identified.  It turns out that it was discovered in Savannah, Georgia, by a famous ornithologist in the 1800's.

There are a lot of savannah sparrow subspecies.  These birds have a strong inclination to return to the area they were raised.  This means that gene pools become somewhat isolated and facilitate diversity within the population.  A good example is the Ipswich subspecies on Sable Island off of Nova Scotia.  They are almost 50% larger than others and has the lightest colouration.

One of the reasons I write blogs is that I enjoy researching my subject and always learn something.  I learned some cool things today.  Another reason is that it gives me a chance to post photos I have taken, my passion, of course, is photographing wildlife and landscapes.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com