Bird name:

Sage Sparrow

Amphispiza belli

Order

PASSERIFORMES

Family

Sparrows (Emberizidae)

Code 4

SAGS

Code 6

AMPBEL

ITIS

179402

Breeding Location:

Bushes, shrubs, and thickets, Desert, semi

Breeding Type:

Monogamous, Solitary nester

Breeding Population:

Egg Color:

Pale blue with dark brown and black markings

Number of Eggs:

2 - 5

Incubation Days:

12 - 16

Egg Incubator:

Female

Nest Material:

Sagebrush pieces, twigs, grass, and bark chips., Lined with grasses, forbs, feathers, fur, and seeds.

Migration:

Most migrate

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General

Sage Sparrow: Medium-sized sparrow with dark-streaked brown back and white underparts with central breast spot and streaks on sides. Gray head has small white patch in front of eye. White throat is interrupted by a thick, dark moustache stripe. Wings are brown with two faint bars. Tail is long and dark with thin, white edges. Coastal form is darker. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is duller and more heavily streaked.

Range and Habitat

Sage Sparrow: Breeds from Washington south to Baja California and throughout the Great Basin. Spends winters in small flocks in low desert of southern California, Arizona, New Mexico, and western Texas, south into Mexico. Found in sagebrush flats, alkaline flats with saltbush, and semi-desert shrublands in the lowlands.

Breeding and Nesting

Sage Sparrow: Two to five pale blue eggs marked with dark brown and black are laid in a loose cup of sagebrush pieces, twigs, grass, and bark chips and lined with grass, forbs, feathers, fur, and seeds. Nest is well hidden in a shrub, usually less than 4 feet above the ground. Incubation ranges from 12 to 16 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Sage Sparrow: Feeds on insects and seeds; forages mainly on the ground.

Readily Eats

Sunflower Seed, Commercial Mixed Bird Seed

Vocalization

Sage Sparrow: Song is a series of phrases with a seesaw rhythm, "twee-si-tity-slip." Call is a high faint note "tik" or "tik-tik."

Similar Species

Sage Sparrow: Black-throated Sparrow has a black throat.

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Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Underparts

Belly, undertail coverts, chest, flanks, and foreneck.

Breast

The upper front part of a bird.

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America