March Bird Species of the Month: Song Sparrow

Although I have spent time painting landscapes, my favorite subjects to paint are still birds.  There are so many unique and beautiful species out there.  This is the first installment of posts on some of the species that have inspired my art.

Back when I was in school, I spent some time studying the behavior of the song sparrow, Melospiza melodia.  While I didn't much like the research I was involved in, I grew to love this cute little bird.

Image from http://www.greensborobirds.com

I love the way that the stripes on his head look almost like a little mohawk.  This bird also has a very distinct song.  The males will sing this song in order to declare their territory and attract females.  This was one of the first and only bird songs I learned and it's fairly common for me to be out and suddenly recognize the call of the song sparrow.

Here is one of the paintings I did of the song sparrow on a small 4"x4" canvas with acrylics:

In addition, I have found these species to be a wonderful inspiration for my jewelry.  While wandering the bead aisles at the craft store, I can almost see the birds in some of the beads.  Here is an example of one of my song sparrow necklaces:

It's zoomed in so you can see the beads more clearly.  The brown pearls pick up the overall sheen of the feathers while the black and white beads capture the stripes of the belly.  I'm still working on photographing these necklaces, but some song sparrow jewelry should be on my etsy site soon!