General

Rufous-winged Sparrow: Medium-sized sparrow with gray-brown upperparts finely streaked with black; underparts are white. Pale gray head has rufous crown divided by gray median stripe, red-brown eye-line, and black moustache stripe. Wings are brown with rufous shoulder patches and two white bars. Sexes are similar. Juvenile is paler with less distinct face markings, pale brown wing-bars, and streaks on breast and sides.

Range and Habitat

Rufous-winged Sparrow: Resident in south-central Arizona. Prefers grasslands mixed with thorn bushes, mesquite trees, or cholla patches.

Breeding and Nesting

Rufous-winged Sparrow: Two to five pale blue eggs are laid in a cup nest made of forbs, grass, twigs, and bark, lined with finer materials, and built in a cactus or thorny bush. Incubation ranges from 12 to 14 days and is carried out by the female.

Foraging and Feeding

Rufous-winged Sparrow: Eats insects and seeds. Forages by hopping on the ground; occasionally hawks insects from the ground.

Readily Eats

Sunflower Seed, Commercial Mixed Bird Seed

Vocalization

Rufous-winged Sparrow: Song is a rapid jumbled series of "chip" notes, "chip-chip-chip", followed by an accelerating trill, "sweet-sweet-sweet." Call is a high, abrasive "seep" or high, thin "tsit."

Similar Species

Rufous-winged Sparrow: Rufous-crowned Sparrow has rufous crown, single moustache stripe, gray-brown upperparts with rufous streaks, distinct white eye-ring, and lacks rufous shoulder patch.