Black-chinned Sparrow

Spizella atrogularisOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

General

Black-chinned Sparrow: Medium-sized sparrow, mostly plain, dark gray with brown-streaked back, pale gray belly, and black chin and eyestripe. Bill is pink. Female has less black on chin. Juvenile lacks black facial markings.

Range and Habitat

Black-chinned Sparrow: Breeds from south central California east to southern Nevada and southwest Utah, south to Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, and Mexico. Spends winters from coastal California, southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, south into Baja California and Mexico. In desert regions, inhabit tall, dense sagebrush or other brushlands; in the far west, prefer dry chaparral with a variety of shrubs and scrub oak.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"sweet-sweet-swee-iiiiii-r", chew-chew-chew"

Interesting Facts

Black-chinned Sparrows have suffered from habitat loss and degradation due to overgrazing, mining, and use of off-road vehicles.

Singing males are conspicuous when they sit on top of high bushes; their song carries well through the narrow, brushy canyons they inhabit, but in general they are shy and secretive.

A group of sparrows has many collective nouns, including a "crew", "flutter", "meinie", "quarrel", and "ubiquity" of sparrows.

Author

Gary Owen Dick

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Black-chinned Sparrow

Black-chinned Sparrow: Medium sparrow, plain, dark gray with brown-streaked back, pale gray belly, black chin and pale eyestripe. Bill is pink. The legs and feet are yellow-gray. Forages in brush and on ground. Short flights on rapidly beating wings alternating with periods of wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "sweet-sweet-swee-iiiiii-r", chew-chew-chew"

● Foraging & Feeding: Black-chinned Sparrow: Feeds on seeds and insects; forages in sage and chaparral.

● Breeding & nesting: Black-chinned Sparrow: Two to five light blue eggs are laid in a grass-lined cup nest well concealed in a low bush. Female incubates eggs for about 13 days.

● Similar species: Black-chinned Sparrow: Juncos have white outer tail feathers.

Flight Pattern

Flights of short duration on rapidly beating wings.

● Range & Habitat: Black-chinned Sparrow: Breeds from south central California east to southern Nevada and southwest Utah, south to Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, and Mexico. Spends winters from coastal California, southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, south into Baja California and Mexico. In desert regions, inhabit tall, dense sagebrush or other brushlands; in the far west, prefer dry chaparral with a variety of shrubs and scrub oak.

^BreedingMonogamous, Loose colonies

^PopulationUncommon and local

^MigrationNorthern birds migrate

^Weight0.4 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America