Five-striped Sparrow

Aimophila quinquestriataOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Sparrows (Emberizidae)

General

Five-striped Sparrow: Medium-sized sparrow with dark, gray-brown upperparts, gray underparts, and white belly. Head has white eye-line and eye-ring, and black-and-white throat stripes. Sexes are similar.

Range and Habitat

Five-striped Sparrow: Uncommon and local in southern Arizona; also found in Mexico; inhabits arid rocky hills with dense brush.

Listen to Call

Voice Text

"serr-it-chee-chee-it-ts-chee-chee-it-serr-serr","sik"

Interesting Facts

The rarest breeding sparrow in the continental United States is the Five-striped Sparrow, which is found only in the extreme southern portions of Arizona.

They have the largest known song repertoire in the Aimophila family.

This species is a regular victim of cowbird nest parasites.

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.

Five-striped Sparrow

Five-striped Sparrow: Medium sparrow, dark, gray-brown upperparts, gray underparts, white belly. Head has thin white eye-line and eye-ring, and black-and-white throat stripes. Pink-gray legs, feet. Short flights, alternates rapid wing beats with brief periods of wings pulled to sides.

● Song: "serr-it-chee-chee-it-ts-chee-chee-it-serr-serr","sik"

● Foraging & Feeding: Five-striped Sparrow: Eats insects and seeds gleaned from the ground or foliage.

● Breeding & nesting: Five-striped Sparrow: Three to four white eggs are laid in a cup nest made of rootlets, grass, and finer materials, and built atop a grassy tussock, on the ground, or low in a bush. Incubation ranges from 12 to 13 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Five-striped Sparrow: Black-Throated Sparrow has completely black chin, throat, and breast; two white stripes on each side of head, white underparts with brown sides and flanks, brown upperparts, and white-edged tail.

Flight Pattern

Short flights with raidly beatin wings alternating with brief periods of wings pulled to sides.

Five-striped Sparrow Breeding Male Body Illustration

● Range & Habitat: Five-striped Sparrow: Uncommon and local in southern Arizona; also found in Mexico; inhabits arid rocky hills with dense brush.

^BreedingMonogamous, Solitary nester

^PopulationYes but uncommon

^MigrationMigratory

^Weight0.7 Ounces

Field Guide to Birds of North America