Clay-colored Sparrow - Spizella pallida
Global Rank:
G5
State Rank:
S4B
Agency Status
USFWS:
none
USFS:
none
BLM:
none
CFWCS Tier:
2
PIF:
3
General Description
Slight sexual dimorphism in color and size. Typical of genus Spizella—small size, slim build, notched tail and wing bars. Adult plumage upperparts a mixture of grays and browns with sharp blackish streakings, unstreaked grayish-white underparts. Head markings distinctive: gray or white median crown stripe, brown ear patches outlined with dark brown, dark whisker, gray nuchal collar contrasting with rest of plumage, flesh-colored bill dusky above and at tip. Brown rump and head markings separate it from Chipping Sparrow. Similar to Brewer’s Sparrow, but with more strongly patterned head markings, especially rich brown sides of crown overlain with wide black streaks contrasting at a distance with pale supercilium and median crown stripe (Kaufman 1990). (Knapton, R. W. 1994. Clay-colored Sparrow (Spizella pallida). In The Birds of North America, No. 120 (A. Poole and F. Gill, Eds.). Philadelphia: The Academy of Natural Sciences; Washington, D.C.: The American Ornithologists’ Union.)
Distribution
Montana Range
Observations in Montana: 1153
Montana CountiesBeaverhead, Big Horn, Blaine, Broadwater, Carbon, Carter, Cascade, Chouteau, Custer, Daniels, Dawson, Deer Lodge, Fallon, Fergus, Flathead, Gallatin, Garfield, Glacier, Granite, Hill, Jefferson, Lake, Lewis and Clark, Liberty, Lincoln, Madison, McCone, Meagher, Missoula, Musselshell, Park, Petroleum, Phillips, Pondera, Powder River, Powell, Prairie, Ravalli, Richland, Roosevelt, Rosebud, Sanders, Sheridan, Silver Bow, Stillwater, Sweet Grass, Teton, Toole, Valley, Wheatland, Wibaux, Yellowstone
Habitat
Species prefers open shrubland, thickets along edges of waterways, second-growth areas, and forest edges and burns.
Food Habits
Diet consists of numerous varieties of seeds and invertebrates.
Reproductive Characteristics
Double brooded species with three to four eggs per brood. Incubation period 10-12 days. Young able to fly eight to nine days after hatch.