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Sage Sparrow

Amphispiza belliOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Sage Sparrow Breeding Male Portrait
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General

Sage Sparrow: Medium-sized sparrow with dark-streaked brown back and white underparts with central breast spot and streaks on sides. Gray head has small white patch in front of eye. White throat is interrupted by a thick, dark moustache stripe. Wings are brown with two faint bars. Tail is long and dark with thin, white edges. Coastal form is darker. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is duller and more heavily streaked.

Range and Habitat

Sage Sparrow: Breeds from Washington south to Baja California and throughout the Great Basin. Spends winters in small flocks in low desert of southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas, south into Mexico. Found in sagebrush flats, alkaline flats with saltbush, and semi-desert shrublands in the lowlands.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"twee-si-tity-slip", "tik", "tik-tik"

Interesting Facts

 The Sage Sparrow spends much of its time on the ground, running between shrubs with its tail raised in the air.

 Five subspecies are recognized. The three nonmigratory subspecies found in coastal California and Baja California were once collectively considered a separate species, "Bell's Sparrow."

 The species name (belli) refers to John Graham Bell, a taxidermist who traveled with Audubon to the Yellowstone River.

 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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Range Map for Sage Sparrow
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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.
Family Buntings, Finches, Sparrows (Emberizidae)_blue
Species Amphispiza belli
Length6.25 Inches
Wingspan8.25 Inches

Sage Sparrow

Sage Sparrow: Medium sparrow, dark-streaked brown back, white underparts with central breast spot, streaks on sides. Gray head has white patch in front of eye. White throat has dark moustache stripe. Brown wings, two faint bars. Long tail is dark, white edged. Coastal form is darker.

● Song: "twee-si-tity-slip", "tik", "tik-tik"

● Foraging & Feeding: Sage Sparrow: Feeds on insects and seeds; forages mainly on the ground.

● Breeding & nesting: Sage Sparrow: Two to five pale blue eggs marked with dark brown and black are laid in a loose cup of sagebrush pieces, twigs, grass, and bark chips and lined with grass, forbs, feathers, fur, and seeds. Nest is well hidden in a shrub, usually less than 4 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 12 to 16 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Sage Sparrow: Black-throated Sparrow has a black throat.

Flight Pattern

Alternates several rapid wing beats with wings pulled to sides.
Sage Sparrow Breeding Male Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Sage Sparrow: Breeds from Washington south to Baja California and throughout the Great Basin. Spends winters in small flocks in low desert of southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas, south into Mexico. Found in sagebrush flats, alkaline flats with saltbush, and semi-desert shrublands in the lowlands.
BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester
Population
MigrationMost migrate
Weight0.7 Ounces