Sparrows

I have to look up sparrows every time I see them, every time I hear them. 

I know sparrows

Can tell one

From another.

We are the ones

That think of them

As plain

Brown

With maybe

One distinctive

Marking.

They are anything but

Plain

One sparrow

Knows another.

I have to look them up

When I see them,

When I hear them.

Someone has decided

What determines

White-throated

White-crowned

Song.

They have

No such terms

Each sparrow knows

Its own kind.