What bird says oh sweet Canada?

Both phrases belong to the same bird, the White-throated Sparrow. Its song opens with two clear, slow whistles and then runs into a string of repeated three-syllable phrases: oh sweet Canada, Canada, Canada to some ears, Old Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody to others. Most of these sparrows nest in Canada and the northern woods and spend the winter across the southern and eastern United States. There you may hear the song in late fall, early spring and now and then in winter, from thickets, woodland edges and the ground under feeders.

Listen: the likeliest bird

The words change from book to book, and that is fine, because the rhythm does not. Audubon's field guide writes the song as Poor Sam Peabody, Peabody, Peabody or Sweet Sweet Canada, Canada, Canada, and adds that the Canadian version is perhaps the more fitting one, since most of these birds breed in Canada. The Missouri Department of Conservation offers sweet, sweet, Canada Canada Canada and notes that Ol' Sam Peabody became a nickname for the species. Wikipedia gives Po-or Sam Peabody and O-oh sweet Canada. Old, Poor, Oh or Sweet: every version starts with long, drawn-out syllables and ends with a run of three-beat repeats.

Strip away the words and the Missouri guide describes the song as two clear, slow whistles followed by repeated three-syllable phrases, which it spells hew, hew, whe-he-he, whe-he-he, whe-he-he. Wikipedia adds that the rhythm is very regular, the tone a little pinched, and that to human ears the song often sounds slightly out of tune, partly because the repeated note can drift a touch in pitch. Listen for that faintly off-key quality. Wikipedia also notes the species has at least two distinct songs built on different pitch steps, so do not worry if one bird's tune does not match the next.

Not every White-throat sings equally. The species comes in two color forms, with white or tan head stripes, and Audubon notes that white-striped males usually sing more than tan-striped males, and that white-striped females also sing while tan-striped females usually do not.

The new ending: Cana, Cana, Cana

If the bird you hear seems to drop a syllable, it may be singing the new version. Wikipedia, citing a 2020 National Geographic report, describes a song that starts the usual way but turns the repeated triplets, as in Peabody, into doublets, as in Cherry, finishing on a single note. The new tune first showed up in British Columbia and spread east from there. A sparrow singing Cana, Cana, Cana is not confused. It is up to date.

When and where you hear it

White-throated Sparrows breed in central Canada and New England, in coniferous and mixed forest, mainly in openings with dense shrub thickets around ponds, clearings, roadsides and second growth. They migrate mostly at night and tend to move south late in the fall, drifting gradually toward the southern and eastern United States. In Missouri the first birds arrive in late September and the last spring migrants are gone by the end of May, and in winter they are common in the southern part of the state and uncommon in the north.

In winter, look low. The birds use dense cover such as forest undergrowth and edges and well-planted suburbs and parks, usually in loose flocks with other sparrows. They feed on the ground under or near thickets, hopping rather than walking and scratching the leaf litter by kicking backward with both feet at once, and they come to feeders where seed is on or near the ground. Even when they are not singing, listen for the calls from inside the brush: a soft tseet and a sharp, alarmed pink.

Another whistling sparrow

The closely related White-crowned Sparrow starts its song the same way, with clear whistles. Audubon describes it as a short series of clear whistles followed by buzzy notes, so the second half buzzes where the White-throat keeps whistling. White-crowns are very common in most of the West at one season or another, wintering in the southwestern lowlands and living all year along the Pacific coast. In the East they are generally uncommon migrants or winter visitors. Different populations even sing local dialects.

How to tell which one you heard

• Two slow whistles, then a regular run of three-beat repeats, slightly off-key: White-throated Sparrow.
• The same opening, but the repeats come in twos: still a White-throat, singing the newer doublet ending.
• Clear whistles that break into buzzy notes: White-crowned Sparrow, especially in the West.
• A soft tseet or a sharp, alarmed pink from the brush: the White-throated Sparrow's calls.
• If you see it: the White-throat has a crisp white throat patch and a yellow spot in front of the eye. The White-crowned Sparrow has a plain pearly-gray breast and neck, bold crown stripes and no yellow spot.

If the singer stays tucked in the brush, Warble can listen and name it from the song alone.

Questions people ask

Warble is a game, not a field guide. Facts about birds on this page come from the sources above.