Black-chinned Sparrow
Black-chinned Sparrow: Medium sparrow, plain, dark gray with brown-streaked back, pale gray belly, black chin and pale eyestripe. Bill is pink. The legs and feet are yellow-gray. Forages in brush and on ground. Short flights on rapidly beating wings alternating with periods of wings pulled to sides.
● Song:
"sweet-sweet-swee-iiiiii-r", chew-chew-chew"
● Foraging & Feeding:
Black-chinned Sparrow: Feeds on seeds and insects; forages in sage and chaparral.
● Breeding & nesting:
Black-chinned Sparrow: Two to five light blue eggs are laid in a grass-lined cup nest well concealed in a low bush. Female incubates eggs for about 13 days.
● Similar species:
Black-chinned Sparrow: Juncos have white outer tail feathers.
● Range & Habitat:
Black-chinned Sparrow: Breeds from south central California east to southern Nevada and southwest Utah, south to Arizona, New Mexico, western Texas, and Mexico. Spends winters from coastal California, southern Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, south into Baja California and Mexico. In desert regions, inhabit tall, dense sagebrush or other brushlands; in the far west, prefer dry chaparral with a variety of shrubs and scrub oak.