Brewer's Sparrow

Overview

The Brewer's sparrow (Spizella breweri) is a small, slim species of American sparrow in the family Passerellidae, named after the ornithologist Thomas Mayo Brewer. It is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN, although population declines have been noted in certain areas due to habitat loss.

Identification

• Grey-brown backs and speckled brown crowns with dark streaks, featuring a pale eye-ring.
• Pale grey underparts and brown wings with light wing bars.
• Pale bill with a dark tip and a long notched tail.
• Distinguished from the clay-colored sparrow by the lack of a pale stripe on the crown or a grey neck patch.

Habitat

The nominate subspecies inhabits brushy areas, particularly with sagebrush, in southern western Canada and the western United States, while the timberline sparrow subspecies lives in thicketed areas around the tree line in the Rockies of British Columbia, Alberta, northern Montana, the southern Yukon, and southeastern Alaska. These birds migrate to the southwestern United States and central Mexico for the winter.

Diet

They forage primarily in shrubs or low vegetation, though they also feed on the ground, and usually forage in flocks outside of the breeding season. Their diet consists mainly of insects in summer, with seeds becoming a more important component at other times of the year.

Did you know?

Males possess two distinct types of songs, classified as short and long songs, which they use to defend nesting territory.