Song sparrows have streaked breasts, and the stripes usually unite into a dark spot at the center of the breast. This is a reliable field mark. Vesper sparrow is another fairly common open-country ...

It’s springtime at Jamaica Bay, a wonderful birding area filled with shorebirds, ducks, geese and many colorful passerines in the scrubby gardens. A smattering of birders are ambling along in front of ...