Species: Passerella iliaca
Fox Sparrow
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Emberizidae
Genus
Passerella
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Gorrión Rascador - bruant fauve
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Emberizidae - Passerella - for which mtDNA evidence suggests a narrow contact zone along the interface of the Great Basin and Sierra Nevada/Cascades. Morphometric characters intergrade over a broader area, suggesting that different processes are responsible for the two gradients. The number of biological species represented ranges from one to four, depending on the degree of hybridization tolerated. The mtDNA and plumage characters suggest four phylogenetic species: P. ILIACA, P. MEGARHYNCHA, P. UNALASCHCENSIS, AND P. SCHISTACEA. Rising (1996) listed three species: P. ILIACA (Red Fox Sparrow), P. UNALASCHCENSIS (Sooty Fox Sparrow), and P. SCHISTACEA (Slate-colored Fox Sparrow).
Ecology and Life History
Short General Description
A small bird (sparrow).
Migration
false - true - true - Mostly a long-distance migrant; moves northward in March-April. Migrations more localized on west coast.
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Forages on the ground for seeds (e.g., smartweed, ragweed). Also eats berries (e.g., blueberries, elderberries) grapes and other fruits. May eat invertebrates (e.g., beetles, spiders, millipedes and crane flies).
Reproduction Comments
Clutch size 3-5. Incubation 12-14 days, mostly by female (Terres 1980).
Length
18
Weight
32
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-12-04
Global Status Last Changed
1996-12-04
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
BREEDING: western and northern Alaska, northern Yukon, Mackenzie, southwestern Keewatin, northern Manitoba, northern Ontario, northern Quebec, and northern Labrador south along the Pacific coast to northwestern Washington, in the western mountains to southern California, Nevada, Utah, and Colorado, and, east of the Rockies, to central Alberta, central Saskatchewan, central Manitoba, central Ontario, southern Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland (AOU 1983). Breeding strongly suspected in Sierra San Pedro Martir, Baja California (Erickson and Wurster 1998). NON-BREEDING: southern Alaska and southern British Columbia southward through Pacific states to northern Baja California, and from Arizona, New Mexico, Kansas, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, southern Ontario, southwestern Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and southern Newfoundland south to northern Sonora (casually), New Mexico, Texas, Gulf coast, and Florida (AOU 1983).

