CLIPBOARD : BREEDING BIRDS: BLACK-CHINNED SPARROW (Spizella atrogularis)

Description: Prominent features include a gray head and belly with striped, nut-brown wings and back. Males have the black chin and lores; dark gray tail. Females have dark chin but lack lore markings. Juveniles are lighter overall and lack both the dark chin and lore markings. Bills are pink. Length: 5-5 1/2 inches.

Habitat: Chaparral, dry brushy slopes and sagebrush.

Diet: Grains, conifer seeds, spiders and flying insects.

Displays: Unknown.

Nest: Usually built in sagebrush of grass and fine materials.

Eggs: Pale blue with brown markings (or may be unmarked). Length: 0.7 inches.

Call: Song is a series of slightly descending notes, sweet-sweet-sweet ending with a trill weet-trrrr . Call is a high thin seep.

Notes: Little is known of this sparrow’s ecology and behavior.

Breeding bird atlas: To report bird breeding activity in your neighborhood, or to get information on the breeding bird atlas, call Sea and Sage Audubon Society members Sylvia Gallagher, (714) 962-8990, or Nancy Kenyon, (714) 786-3160.

Note: Map is divided into 5-kilometer squares so that Audubon Society volunteers can more easily survey areas on a regular basis.

Sources: Sea and Sage Audubon Society; “The Birder’s Handbook,” Ehrlich, Dobkin and Wheye, Fireside Books (1988); “Field Guide to the Birds of North America,” National Geographic Society (1987); “Birds of Southern California: Status and Distribution,” Garrett and Dunn, Los Angeles Audubon Society (1981).