Chipping Sparrow

Spizella passerina
Sparrow family (Emberizidae)

Habitat:
Forest edges, open woodlands.

Description:
Small sparrow, 5” long.  Bright rufous crown, whitish eyebrow, black eye stripe, black bill, unstreaked gray breast, gray rump, dully white belly.

Nesting:
Cup-like nest of grasses placed on branch of tree, usually 3 to 10 feet above the ground.  Eggs are pale blue with dark spots.  Clutch size – 3 to 4 eggs.

Song:
Song is a continuous rapid series of dry chip notes with all notes on one pitch.

Name Origin:
Spizella, Greek and Latin, spiza for “finch”; passerina:  passer, Latin for “sparrow”; -ina, Latin suffix for “like”. 

In the Nature Park:
Short-distance migrant, arriving at the Nature Park during mid-April.  Common around the buildings at the Nature Park where there is a mix of trees and open areas.