{"id":162642,"date":"2025-11-03T06:03:14","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T12:03:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=162642"},"modified":"2026-03-14T06:54:50","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T11:54:50","slug":"swamp-sparrow-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/11\/03\/swamp-sparrow-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","title":{"rendered":"Swamp Sparrow At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AutumnAutumn Swamp Sparrow at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f11, 1\/1000, ISO 2000, +1.0 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday while at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I was tickled to take photos of a Swamp Sparrow perched on a Smooth Sumac branch in early morning light.<\/p>\n

Swamp Sparrows don\u2019t breed in Oklahoma. They spend time in east central Oklahoma during their nonbreeding season from October through April, which allows me to see, hear, and photograph them.<\/p>\n

Before this Swamp Sparrow came into view, I could see several of them moving around in the brush I had parked close to.<\/p>\n

The last time I was at the refuge, I spotted Swamp, White-throated, White-crowned, and Lincoln’s Sparrows in the brush and sumacs near a field. My plan yesterday was to park, sit, and wait to see if any of them would come out into the open in that area.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for me, this sparrow did just that.<\/p>\n

\"SwampSwamp Sparrow perched on a sumac branch \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f11, 1\/1000, ISO 2000, +1.0 EV, Canon RF 800mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The refuge has bottomland hardwood forests that seem to attract several sparrow species during the fall, winter, and early spring. I love it, I truly adore sparrows!<\/p>\n

This Swamp Sparrow doesn’t have as rich a reddish-brown tone on its wings as I am used to seeing in this species, so it may be an immature hatch year bird. Its cap is also more brown than rusty, which made me wonder if it was a hatch year bird.<\/p>\n

No matter the age of this Swamp Sparrow<\/span><\/a>, I was delighted to have them in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

I took photos of a Swamp Sparrow in Utah on Halloween of 2022, which was a complete surprise for me since they are uncommon in that area. Read more about that here: Surprise Swamp Sparrow At Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Swamp Sparrow photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yesterday while at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I was tickled to take photos of a Swamp Sparrow perched on a Smooth Sumac branch in early morning light.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162637,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,13973,13974,13425],"tags":[970,16920,13984,4897,4620,15527,13426,4104,16922,6188,16921,855,4195,7630,13427,4427],"class_list":["post-162642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","category-swamp-sparrows","tag-autumn","tag-bottomland","tag-bottomlands","tag-branch","tag-fall","tag-hardwood-forest","tag-melospiza-georgiana","tag-perched","tag-rhus-glabra","tag-shrub","tag-smooth-sumac","tag-sparrow","tag-sparrows","tag-sumac","tag-swamp-sparrow","tag-tree"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/swamp-sparrow-autumn-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-9764.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-Gjg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":163267,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/11\/10\/song-sparrow-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":162642,"position":0},"title":"Song Sparrow At Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I was very happy to have a beautiful adult Song Sparrow in my viewfinder while I was at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Song Sparrow at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/song-sparrow-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-0377.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/song-sparrow-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-0377.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/song-sparrow-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-0377.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/song-sparrow-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-0377.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":163577,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/11\/13\/young-white-crowned-sparrow-and-a-november-sunrise\/","url_meta":{"origin":162642,"position":1},"title":"Young White-crowned Sparrow And A November Sunrise","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I am sharing White-crowned Sparrow photos, plus a bonus Arkansas River sunrise image taken yesterday at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young White-crowned Sparrow at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0600.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0600.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0600.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":159416,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/10\/07\/lincolns-sparrow-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":162642,"position":2},"title":"Lincoln’s Sparrow at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 7, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"One year ago today while walking a road at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma, I photographed a beautiful Lincoln\u2019s Sparrow perched next to the road.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Lincoln's Sparrow at Sequoyah NWR, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lincolns-sparrow-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4006.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lincolns-sparrow-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4006.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lincolns-sparrow-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4006.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/lincolns-sparrow-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-4006.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":166826,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/01\/14\/immature-white-crowned-sparrow-in-a-bottomland-hardwood-forest\/","url_meta":{"origin":162642,"position":3},"title":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow In A Bottomland Hardwood Forest","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 14, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Late last week, while driving through a forested area of Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, I was delighted to photograph an immature White-crowned Sparrow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow at Sequoyah NWR, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4424.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4424.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4424.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-sequoyah-mia-mcpherson-4424.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":174188,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2026\/04\/06\/immature-white-crowned-sparrow-molting-in-oklahoma\/","url_meta":{"origin":162642,"position":4},"title":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow Molting In Oklahoma","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 6, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning I had this immature White-crowned Sparrow in my viewfinder at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge long enough to realize she or he was molting.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature White-crowned Sparrow molting in Oklahoma, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-3010.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-3010.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-3010.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/white-crowned-sparrow-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-3010.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":142010,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/26\/immature-white-throated-sparrow-at-miners-cove\/","url_meta":{"origin":162642,"position":5},"title":"Immature White-throated Sparrow At Miner’s Cove","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"For the first time ever, two days ago, I took a photo at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma of an immature White-throated Sparrow that I actually liked.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature White-throated Sparrow in a shrub at Miner's Cove, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/white-throated-sparrow-immature-mia-mcpherson-0591.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162642\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}