Montana Field Guide

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Montana Field Guides

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- Kingdom - Animals - Animalia
  - Phylum - Vertebrates - Craniata
    - Class - Birds - Aves
      - Order - Songbirds - Passeriformes
        
        Family - New World Sparrows - Passerellidae
        
        Species - American Tree Sparrow - Spizelloides arborea

American Tree Sparrow - Spizelloides arborea

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Native Species

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: SNA

Agency Status
USFWS: MBTA
USFS:
BLM:
PIF:

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General Description

Small species, sexually monomorphic. Grayish underside with a back streaked with black, cream, and brown.

For a comprehensive review of the conservation status, habitat use, and ecology of this and other Montana bird species, please see Marks et al. 2016, Birds of Montana.

Species Range

Montana Range Range Descriptions

All Ranges

Winter

Migratory

(Click legend blocks to view individual ranges)

Western Hemisphere Range

Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database

Number of Observations: 6572

(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version) Map Help and Descriptions

Relative Density

Recency

SUMMER (Feb 16 - Dec 14)

Direct Evidence of Breeding

Indirect Evidence of Breeding

No Evidence of Breeding

WINTER (Dec 15 - Feb 15)

Regularly Observed

Not Regularly Observed

(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)

Migration

Bozeman area normal migration periods are from October 27 to December 20 and March 5 to 25. The spring peak is March 15.

Habitat

Found near tree lines, or open areas with scattered trees. Commonly winters in neighborhood gardens and feeders.

National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species

Forest and Woodland

Deciduous Forest and Woodland

Great Plains Aspen Forest and Woodland

Great Plains Mesic Forest and Woodland

Low Elevation - Xeric Forest and Woodland

Great Plains Ponderosa Pine Forest and Woodland

Rocky Mountain Ponderosa Pine Forest and Woodland

Montane - Subalpine Forest and Woodland

Cedar - Hemlock Forest

Dry Spruce-fir Forest

Interior PNW Douglas-fir Forest and Woodland

Lodgepole Pine Forest

Mesic Spruce-fir Forest

Montane Mesic Coniferous (Grand Fir - Douglas-fir - Western Larch) Forest

Rocky Mountain Douglas-fir Forest

Whitebark Pine - Subalpine Larch Forest and Woodland

Shrubland

Foothills - Montane Shrubland

Lowland - Montane Shrubland

Montane - Subalpine Mesic Shrubland

Mountain Mahogany Woodland and Shrubland

Sagebrush Shrubland

Basin and Wyoming Big (Threetip) Sagebrush Shrubland

Mountain Big Sagebrush Shrubland

Grassland

Lowland - Prairie Grassland

Great Plains Dry Mixedgrass Prairie

Great Plains Mesic Mixedgrass Prairie

Great Plains Sand Prairie

Great Plains Solonetzic Grassland

Rocky Mountain Low Elevation - Dry Grassland

Semi-Desert Grassland

Montane - Subalpine Grassland

Montane - Subalpine Dry Grassland

Wetland and Riparian

Alkaline - Saline Wetlands

Greasewood Shrubland

Intermountain Alkaline - Saline Grassland and Meadow

Riparian and Wetland Forest

Great Plains Floodplain Forest

Lowland - Montane Riparian Deciduous Forest

Montane - Subalpine Riparian Forest

Montane Forested Wetland

Riparian Shrubland

Great Plains Floodplain Shrubland and Herbland

Lowland - Montane Riparian Shrubland

Montane - Subalpine Riparian and Seep Shrubland

Recently Disturbed or Modified

Harvested Forest

Recently Logged

Insect-Killed Forest

Recent Insect/Disease Damage

Introduced Vegetation

Introduced - Upland Herbaceous Vegetation

Recently Burned

Recently Burned Forest

Human Land Use

Agriculture

Cultivated Crops, Dryland

Irrigated Agriculture

Pasture/Hay, Dryland

Developed

Developed - Low and Medium Intensity

Developed - Vegetation

Food Habits

Diet includes spiders, seeds of grass, sedge, forbs, buds, and berries.

Reproductive Characteristics

Single brooded species with 3 to 5 eggs per hatch. Incubation period 12 to 13 days. Eggs pale-blue to greenish-white. Nests found on ground in shallow depressions; rarely in shrubs and low trees.

Stewardship Responsibility

References

Literature Cited AboveLegend: View Online Publication
- Marks, J.S., P. Hendricks, and D. Casey. 2016. Birds of Montana. Arrington, VA. Buteo Books. 659 pages.
Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?
- American Ornithologists’ Union [AOU]. 1998. Check-list of North American birds, 7th edition. American Ornithologists’ Union, Washington, D.C. 829 p.
- Cameron, E. S. 1908. The birds of Custer and Dawson counties, Montana. Auk 25:39-56.
- Confluence Consulting Inc. 2011. Montana Department of Transportation Wetland Mitigation Monitoring Reports (various sites). MDT Helena, MT.
- Decker Coal Co., 1981, Wildlife survey. July 7, 1981. In North Decker 5-Year Permit Application. Vol. III. Rule 26.4.304(12-14).
- Ehrlich, P., D. Dobkin, and D. Wheye. 1988. The birder’s handbook: a field guide to the natural history of North American birds. Simon and Schuster Inc. New York. 785 pp.
- Farrand, J. 1983. Audubon Society Master Guide to Birding, No. 2 Gulls to Dippers. Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. New York. New York, pp 176-178.
- Fjell, Alan K., and Brian R. Mahan., 1983, Peabody Coal Company Big Sky Mine, Rosebud County, MT. Wildlife monitoring report: 1982 field season. May 1983.
- Gniadek, S. 1983. Southwest Glendive Wildlife Baseline Inventory. Miles City, Mont: Bureau of Land Management, Miles City District Office. 56 pp with appendices.
- Hays, R., R.L. Eng, and C.V. Davis (preparers). 1984. A list of Montana birds. Helena, MT: MT Dept. of Fish, Wildlife & Parks.
- Johnsgard, P.A. 1992. Birds of the Rocky Mountains with particular reference to national parks in the northern Rocky Mountain region. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. xi + 504 pp.
- Joslin, Gayle, and Heidi B. Youmans. 1999. Effects of recreation on Rocky Mountain wildlife: a review for Montana. [Montana]: Montana Chapter of the Wildlife Society.
- Lenard, S., J. Carlson, J. Ellis, C. Jones, and C. Tilly. 2003. P. D. Skaar's Montana bird distribution, 6th edition. Montana Audubon, Helena, MT. 144 pp.
- Matthews, W.L. 1981. Broadus-Pumpkin Creek baseline inventory - wildlife. Bureau of Land Management, Miles City, MT. 83 p.
- Montana Bird Distribution Committee. 2012. P.D. Skaar's Montana bird distribution. 7th Edition. Montana Audubon, Helena, Montana. 208 pp. + foldout map.
- MT Fish, Wildlife & Parks. No date. Blackfoot-Clearwater Wildlife Management Area checklist.
- Naugler, C.T. 1993. American Tree Sparrow (Spizella arborea). Species Account Number 037. The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca, NY: Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology; Retrieved 3/25/2008 from The Birds of North America Online database
- Oechsli, L.M. 2000. Ex-urban development in the Rocky Mountain West: consequences for native vegetation, wildlife diversity, and land-use planning in Big Sky, Montana. M.Sc. Thesis. Montana State University, Bozeman. 73 p.
- Rising, J.D. 1996. A guide to the identification and natural history of the sparrows of the United States and Canada. Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, CA. 365 pp.
- Sater, S. 2022. The insects of Sevenmile Creek, a pictorial guide to their diversity and ecology. Undergraduate Thesis. Helena, MT: Carroll College. 242 p.
- Saunders, A.A. 1914. The birds of Teton and northern Lewis & Clark counties, Montana. Condor 16:124-144.
- Sibley, D. 2014. The Sibley guide to birds. Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY. 598 pp.
- Skaar, P. D., D. L. Flath, and L. S. Thompson. 1985. Montana bird distribution. Montana Academy of Sciences Monograph 3(44): ii-69.
- Skaar, P.D. 1969. Birds of the Bozeman latilong: a compilation of data concerning the birds which occur between 45 and 46 N. latitude and 111 and 112 W. longitude, with current lists for Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, impinging Montana counties and Yellowstone National Park. Bozeman, MT. 132 p.
- Swan River National Wildlife Refuge. 1982. Birds of the Swan River NWR. Kalispell, MT: NW MT Fish and Wildlife Center pamphlet.
- Thompson, L.S. 1981. Circle West wildlife monitoring study: Third annual report. Technical report No. 8. Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. Helena, Montana.
- U.S. Forest Service. 1991. Forest and rangeland birds of the United States: Natural history and habitat use. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Agricultural Handbook 688. 625 pages.
- Waage, Bruce C., 1995, Western Energy Company Rosebud Mine, Colstrip, Montana:1994 Annual Wildlife Monitoring Report; December 1, 1993 - November 30, 1994. February 27, 1995.
- Watts, C.R. and L.C. Eichhorn. 1981. Changes in the birds of central Montana. Proceedings of the Montana Academy of Sciences 40:31-40.
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Citation for data on this website:
American Tree Sparrow — Spizelloides arborea. Montana Field Guide. Montana Natural Heritage Program and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved on December 12, 2025, from https://FieldGuide.mt.gov/speciesDetail.aspx?elcode=ABPBX94010