Skokie Tracks #1: Chipping Sparrow - Spizella passerina

This is the first bird as part of my series of posts documenting various species that I have spotted in THIS little stretch of abandoned railway line in Skokie, IL. Spizella passerina is a migratory songbird that prefers open woodlands and brushy fields. It's preference for foraging in scrubby, open habitat has allowed it to adjust well to human modified spaces. So, the little patch of abandoned rail line provides some usable habitat. It's a fairly common visitor and resident of summertime gardens as well. It's call is a single, sharp chip, hence its name. Its song, however, is a long, loud series of uniform trills.