Species: Chondestes grammacus

Lark Sparrow

Species

Birds

Show on Lists

Terrestrial vertebrates: birds

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Aves

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Emberizidae

Genus

Chondestes

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102370

Classification

Other Global Common Names

Gorrión Arlequín - bruant à joues marron

Informal Taxonomy

Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds

Formal Taxonomy

Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Emberizidae - Chondestes

Ecology and Life History

Short General Description

A bird (sparrow).

Migration

true - true - true - Breeding populations throughout Canadian and most of U.S. range are long-distance migrants, wintering largely in Mexico and the American southwest. Spring migrants pass through Sonora in mid-March and April (Russell and Monson 1998), peak in Oregon in late April through mid-May (Gilligan et al. 1994), and arrive in southern Alberta in mid- to late May (Semenchuk 1992). Resident populations occur in southwestern Oregon, California, southern Idaho, southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, Texas, northern Baja California, and northcentral Mexico (Martin and Parrish 2000).

Non-migrant

true

Locally Migrant

true

Food Comments

This sparrow is an on omnivore during the breeding season, a granivore in the nonbreeding season (DeGraaf et al. 1985). It feeds on seeds and insects; during the breeding season in Nebraska the diet was 61% seeds and 39% insects (especially grasshoppers, but also beetles, larval Lepidoptera, and spittlebugs) (Kaspari and Joern 1993). Feeding occurs on the ground, often in small flocks.

Reproduction Comments

Clutch initiation peaks in early May in the south, early June in the north (McNair 1985). Clutch size is three to six, usually four or five; mean around 4 (McNair 1985). Female incubates 11-12 days (Baepler 1968). Young leave nest typically at 11-12 days, can fly short distances (Baepler 1968, Johnsgard 1979). Individual females often produce two clutches during a single nesting season (Kaspari and Joern 1993). Males may be polygynous (Terres 1980).

Ecology Comments

Lark sprrows defend small territories around the immediate nest site (Martin and Parrish 2000), 66-248 square meters in extent (n=3, Fitch 1958). <br><br>This species may be seen in flocks, especially during the winter.

Length

Weight

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

2009-03-17

Global Status Last Changed

2000-11-24

Other Status

LC - Least concern

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

Global Range

H - >2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles) - H - Breeding range extends from extreme southern British Columbia and eastern Washington, southeastern Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, northern Minnesota, western Wisconsin, southern Michigan, Ohio (local remnant population), and central Pennsylvania south to southern California, northern Baja California, central Nevada, southern Arizona, northeastern Sonora, southern Chihuahua, Durango, Zacatecas, Nuevo Leon, northern Tamaulipas, southern and eastern Texas, Louisiana, central Alabama, central North Carolina, and western Virginia; local and irregular east of the Mississippi Valley (AOU 1998, Martin and Parrish 2000). Accidental breeder in Ontario (Martin and Parrish 2000). Nonbreeding range extends from western Oregon, California, southern Idaho, southern Arizona, southern New Mexico, and Texas south through Mexico to southern Baja California, Oaxaca, and Chiapas; casual on U.S. Gulf Coast, Belize, Bahamas, Jamaica, and Cuba (AOU 1998, Martin and Parrish 2000).

Global Range Code

Global Range Description

>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.102370