Grasshopper Sparrow
Grasshopper Sparrows are named for their insectlike song—a buzzy, emphatic bundle of tiks and trills which fills the air where they breed. Grasshopper Sparrows favor native grasslands, a habitat much reduced in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Remnant patches do remain, and some preserves are actively managing for “re-wilding” purposes, and grassland specialists have been winging in to such areas. Meadowlarks, Blue Grosbeaks and Indigo Buntings sang in the background, and I even saw a Monarch Butterfly nearby, perhaps waiting for the sparrow in the top picture to leave the Milkweed.