Clay-colored Sparrow

The Clay-colored Sparrow is specie of the vast shrublands of the northern prairie and Great Plains. Their buzzy, insect like song is distinct. They breed in eastern B.C., Alberta, across the northern Great Plains, southern Ontario and irregularly north to James Bay and, southern Quebec. They winter in southern Texas and Mexico.

Adult Male (spring/summer)

The head has a dark brown crown with a distinct white central median stripe. The supercilium is broad grayish-white and the lores are pale, contrasting little with the supercilium. The pale brown auricular is distinctly outlined by a dark brown eyeline and subauricular stripe. The submoustachial stripe is grayish-white and the malar stripe is light brown. The upper mandible is brownish-black and darker at the tip, and the lower mandible is light reddish-brown. The chin and throat are white. The breast and flanks are pale beige and the belly and undertail coverts whitish. The nape is clean gray. The back is brown with distinct dark brown stripes; rump and uppertail coverts are brownish. The tail is long, thin, unstreaked and notched. Wings are brown with middle and lesser coverts edged in beige forming two distinct wing-bars. Legs and feet are light brown or brownish-flesh coloured.

Adult Female

Sexes are similar

Juvenile

Similar to adults but crown is streaked with black and median stripe buffy. Throat and flanks have distinct brown streaks and the supercilium is pale dull buff.

General:

A small and slim sparrow with a fairly long and notched tail. Length: 12.5-14cm. Wing: 19cm. Weight: 9.8-14.5grams.

Behaviour:

Clay-colored Sparrows are persistent singers from elevated perches during the spring and summer and sometime sing at night. They stick close to the ground to feed taking seeds and leaf buds. They also take various insects and forage on the ground hopping but not running. They are unusual in that they feed in areas away from their breeding territories.

Habitat:

Clay-colored Sparrows live in low shrublands, thickets and uncultivated brushy areas where bushes are interspersed with grassy areas. They also occupy thickets along the edges of forests, fields and waterways or shrubby areas regenerating from fire.

Information:

The first Clay-colored Sparrow was collected at Carlton House on the North Saskatchewan River by the English explorers Dr. John Richardson and Thomas Drummond in May 1827. The original vegetation of the northern Great Plains has since been drastically altered through human settlement. The populations of bird species, such as the Clay-colored Sparrow, that depend on those ecosystems have declined. In a substantial portion of its range suppression of fire has resulted in low shrub communities where the Clay-colored Sparrow reach its highest densities.

It has expanded east and north since the turn of the 20th century in response to suitable habitat being created by logging and agricultural activities. The nest is cup shaped made of grasses and twigs lined with finer materials like hair from horses, dear and cattle. It is placed low in a shrub. The clutch is 3-5 pale blue-green blotched with dark brown eggs.

Similar species:

Chipping Sparrow. Brewer’s Sparrow.

Conservation Status:

Listed as Least Concern. Though numerous, their population in Canada appears to be declining, the stronghold of their breeding range.

Capture Rates

A rare bird for the Vancouver area, captures have been limited to a single fall individual.

Molt Summary:

PF: HY partial (Jul-Dec); PB: AHY complete (Jul-Dec); PA partial (Mar-May).

Molts commence on breeding grounds (some birds complete on winter grounds)

Preformative molt usually includes all med and gr covs; often 1-3 terts and often 1-2 central rects. During adult PB, a few flight feathers can be retained until winter grounds.

1st PA includes 0-5 inner gr covs, usually 1-3 terts and sometimes 1-2 central rects.
adult PA includes 0-4 inner gr covs, usually 1-3 terts, and sometimes 1-2 central rects.

This HY in August is showing a clear molt limit between replaced median coverts and retained greater coverts (red arrow).

Notice the retained pale brown juvenal tertials with pale buff edging. Notice also the narrow, tapered and abraded outer primary coverts and alula feathers with indistinct, narrow pale edging.