Savannah Sparrow

Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) is a small variable New World sparrow with a streaked brown back and breast, short notched tail and often a yellow patch before the eye. Body shape, bill structure, plumage pattern and voice provide the strongest field characters. Age, sex and season may alter its appearance, so identification should combine several features and careful direct field comparisons with similar species in the same habitat (Wikipedia, general species account).

It occupies open North American grasslands, feeds on seeds and insects on the ground and nests low in vegetation; most northern populations migrate to the southern United States and Mexico. Its movements and social behaviour vary through the year, with breeding birds generally more dispersed and non-breeding birds gathering where food is concentrated. Japanese records place it within the country's documented avifauna as a resident, migrant or visitor (Wikipedia, general species account; Wildlife of Japan occurrence records).