Sage Sparrow

Sage Sparrow of the pale Baja subspecies A. b. cinerea, Guerrero Negro, Baja California Sur, 28 Sep 2005.

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

The Sage Sparrow is a common but inconspicuous bird of sagebrush and chaparral in the arid western United States. It spends much of its time on the ground, running between shrubs with its tail raised in the air.

Cool Facts

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

Description

• Size: 12-15 cm (5-6 in)
• Weight: 15-22 g (0.53-0.78 ounces)

• Medium-sized sparrow.
• Gray head.
• Thin white eyering.
• White breast and belly with dark central spot.
• Broad white and black mustache stripes.

• White spot in front of eyes.
• Streaks on sides of chest.
• Long, dark, white-edged tail, frequently jerked upward.
• Streaked wings with faint wingbars.
• Back brownish, with dark streaks.
• Bill grayish; upper mandible darker than lower.
• Eyes dark brown.
• Legs and feet dark grayish brown.

Sex Differences

Sexes similar, male slightly larger.

Immature

Juvenile streaked below, with dull, broken whitish eyestripe.

Similar Species

• Five-striped Sparrow is stockier, with plain unstreaked upperparts and gray underparts.
• Juvenile Black-throated Sparrow similar, but has a bold white eyebrow stripe.

Sound

Song is a series of abrupt buzzy phrases and/or bell-like notes. Call is a short bell-like "tink."

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Breeds in the interior West from central Washington to Baja California, and from Wyoming to northern Arizona and New Mexico. California populations resident.

Winter Range

Winters from southern California, Nevada, and Utah throughout Arizona and southern New Mexico, and the northern border regions of Mexico.

Habitat

Chaparral, sagebrush, and other open habitat with shrubs.

Food

Grass seeds and insects.

Behavior

Foraging

Forages primarily on the ground.

Reproduction

Nest Type

An open cup of twigs and grasses, placed in or under shrubs.

Egg Description

Pale blue, with variable markings.

Clutch Size

Condition at Hatching

Helpless with sparse down.

Conservation Status

Populations appear stable across most of range. Clearing of sagebrush habitat for grazing has probably had a significant negative effect. The Californian subspecies belli is listed as Species of Special Concern in California, and the subspecies clementeae of the California Channel Islands is listed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as Threatened.

Other Names

Bruant de Bell (French)
Zacatonero de artemisa (Spanish)
Bell's Sparrow (part) (English)

Sources used to construct this page:

Martin, J. W., and B. A. Carlson. 1998. Sage Sparrow (Amphispiza belli). In The Birds of North America, No. 326 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.