Field Sparrow
Learn to identify the Field Sparrow by ear. Master the "ping-pong-ping-pong-ping-pong-pong-pong-pong" phrase and tell it apart from similar species.
What the Field Sparrow sounds like
The Field Sparrow is a small, warm-colored New World sparrow best known for its sweet, accelerating song that resembles a ping-pong ball dropped on a table. Favoring brushy fields and overgrown pastures, this understated bird is a year-round resident across much of the eastern and central United States, retreating only slightly southward in winter. Though modest in appearance, its clean face, white eye-ring, and pink bill create a gentle, earnest look that endears it to many birders.
“ping-pong-ping-pong-ping-pong-pong-pong-pong”
How to tell it apart
Lessons featuring the Field Sparrow
Ready to test your ear? Practice identifying the Field Sparrow's sounds in these interactive in-app lessons.
Where you'll hear it
Brushy or weedy fields, fencerows, regenerating clear-cuts, prairie edges, and abandoned agricultural land with scattered shrubs or saplings.
Begins singing and nesting early in spring, often on the ground before foliage leaf-out. Forms loose winter flocks that feed on open ground and roost communally in thick cover.
Similar species
Chipping Sparrow
Chipping Sparrow has a bright rufous cap contrasted with bold white eyebrow and black line through eye.
American Tree Sparrow
Tree Sparrow breeds in Arctic and winters farther north than many Field Sparrows.
Brewer's Sparrow
Brewer's Sparrow is paler overall with finely streaked crown.