From Opus

Photo by kegressy
Location: Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Melospiza lincolnii

[edit] Identification

13-15 cm. Crown has 2 rusty stripes; gray eyebrow. Buff band, finely streaked with black, across upper breast.

[edit] Distribution

Nests across the boreal zone of Canada and the northern United States, south in the western mountains to Arizona and southern California. Winters southern United States to Mexico and northern Central America.

[edit] Taxonomy

Three subspecies are recognized^[1]:

• M. l. lincolnii
• M. l. gracilis
• M. l. alticola

[edit] Habitat

Brushy bogs, willow or alder thickets

[edit] Behaviour

They lay 4 or 5 pale green eggs, heavily spotted with brown, in a cup of grass well concealed in forest undergrowth.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist

• List of references

[edit] External Links