Scientific Name:   Spizella passerine

Length:   4.7-5.9 in (12-15 cm)

Weight:   0.4-0.6 oz (11-16 g)

Wingspan:   8.3 in (21 cm)

Nest:   The nest consists of a compact open cup made of grass, weeds, rootlets, lined with fine grass and animal hair.

Eggs:   3-4, rarely 2-5. Pale blue-green, with markings of brown, purple, and black mostly at larger end. Incubation is by female, about 11-14 days; male may feed female during incubation.

Feeding Behavior:   The chipping sparrow feeds on seeds year-round, although insects form most of the diet in the breeding season. Spiders are sometimes taken. The look for food mostly on the ground, but also up in shrubs and low trees. Occasionally makes short flights to catch insects in mid-air, also insects, including grasshoppers, caterpillars, beetles, leafhoppers, true bugs, and many others, plus some spiders.

Young:   Both parents feed the nestlings. Young leave the nest about 8-12 days after hatching. 2 broods per year.

Range:   Often migrates in flocks and spread over a long period in both spring and fall. They prefer woods, trees that bears cones, orchards, farms, towns. Original breeding habitat probably was mainly open pine woods, forest edges.

Brief Description:   Light underparts, pale face, black line through the eye, topped off with a bright rusty crown. In winter, Chipping Sparrows are subdued, buff brown, with darkly streaked upperparts. The black line through the eye is still visible, and the cap is a warm but more subdued reddish brown.